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Bubble reviewed by Sam Osborn of www.samseescinema.com
rating: 3 out of 4
Director: Steven Soderbergh Cast: Dustin James Ashley, Debbie Doebereiner, Misty Dawn Wilkins Screenplay: Coleman Hough MPAA Classification: R (some language)
Director Steven Soderbergh has created a film with "indie" appeal-so amorphous that term has become-but without the genre's usual pretension. Bubble doesn't reek with film school rawness, but showcases Soderbergh's seasoned bravery as a filmmaker. His film is slow and plodding, without direction and, for much of it, without relevant dialogue. But as most films that tout minimalist methods, Bubble hints at profound anthills of meaning hidden beneath its hardtack shell. Bits and pieces of this profundity we can feel crawling to the surface occasionally, but it'll take multiple viewings to be sure of its existence. Luckily, the DVD is already available, due to HDFilm's one day release scheme (a controversy I won't dip into here). It's been dubbed a mystery and it's been dubbed a romance; but neither genre fits snugly around Soderbergh's Bubble. The film is a portrait; a portrait of three people, of small town life, and of a factory and the creatures that mill about from nine to five inside it.
The three people in question are Kyle, Martha, and Rose. Kyle (Dustin James Ashley) is a twenty-something factory worker, handsome in a peculiarly out-of-date way, living with his mom for financial reasons and, most of all, supremely quiet. His best, and seemingly only friend is Martha (Debbie Doebereiner). Martha's been working at the same factory, painting and assembling the head's of toy dolls, for enough time to be referred to as a longtime employee. Her age is unexplainable, but alludes to a younger woman who aged quicker than her years.
Their existence is slow and routine; as though their lives have been put on mute by some omnipotent remote control. Enter Rose (Misty Dawn Wilkins), an attractive, young and single mother who eyed Kyle from the second she entered the factory. She's been hired to pick up the slack left by a new doll order, and been placed in the same department as Martha. Martha and Rose don't click, their lifestyles falling on different ends of the social spectrum. Where Rose dropped out of high school to hitchhike to Charleston and make babies with a struggling artist, Martha brings her father breakfast and spends most of time behind the sewing needle. As is Bubble's way, there's no tangible confrontation or sentimentality between these women in their conflict, but only subtle scrutiny in each of their sidelong glances. Soderbergh doesn't bother with drama here, instead allowing documentary-esque reality to shape with unhurried eventuality. Rose's entrance into Martha and Kyle's life catalyzes change, but doesn't take form in cinematic chaos. Kyle takes Rose on a date and their dialogue is awkward and dawdling, never hinting to a relationship that could ostracize Martha. But the characters' emotions are nebulous and true, often without form but always alluding back to realism; probably a result of Soderbergh's casting of non-actors. There's no substantial love triangle formed, and when a murder occurs, no real mystery or intrigue behind it. Bubble bothers itself instead with this lifestyle and its characters, exploring the consequences and realities of their situation.
Bubble's cast of non-actors is Soderbergh's finishing touch. Ashley, Doebereiner, and Wilkins don't act as actors do. These are real people acting as real people. Instead of getting a Peter Sarsgaard as Kyle, and a Keira Knightley as Rose, and a somber Kathy Bates as Martha, Bubble takes on yet another element of reality. There's an air of anonymity in these characters, reminding us that they're no more than everyday people; they're no more important than any of us. This brings the film a little closer to home. Another effect is that much of the tears and screeches and thrown punches of melodrama is cut out. When somebody dies, the characters react not with tears, but with concealed shock and carefully placated numbness. Their verbal response to a death is little more than small murmurs of reaction.
Whether Bubble is a fitting film for the one day release experiment is still undecided, as it's only been a couple days since its multi-format release. But Bubble's a tough film to market by any stretch of the imagination, and a multi-format release may not help its profiting potential. Either way, Bubble is strange and bizarrely wonderful. It's small and could be accused of offering little more with its narrative than a miniature parable, but the leagues of what Soderbergh lies beneath will keep us coming back for more and more, trying to make sharper sense of these three outlandishly normal human beings.
-www.samseescinema.com
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