“The Bubble”, a comedy about the madness of a shoot in times of pandemic

There were several attempts to portray the pandemic in films. Some better, others unknown, many just excuses to film with little resources and not die of boredom. But The Bubble (The Bubble) is perhaps the first high-budget comedy and famous stars to critically approach the madness that was experienced due to the pandemic. Not only that: at the same time, he makes a satire about the world of cinema, particularly the box-office franchises that don't know when to stop.

In this case, Cliff Beasts is the series of films invented for The Bubble. A successful saga of which a sixth part is going to be filmed, which is why the cast reunites in a mansion in the English countryside to be able to film inside a bubble in the midst of a pandemic.

Between the madness of the social effects of the coronavirus and the personalities of the actors, filming is getting more and more complicated. The director, who used to be an independent filmmaker, is under pressure from the producer and studio executives, while all filming takes place with green screens in the background, in an acid critical note on how current cinema is made.

The filmmaker, screenwriter and producer is Judd Apatow, almost a hero of American comedy in recent decades: he directed films such as Virgin at 40, Slightly Pregnant, Funny People, The King of Staten Island and produced Happy Gilmore, The Cable Guy, Best of My Weddings, Anchorman, Ladies at War among many others. There is no first-rate contemporary comedian who has not participated in a film produced, directed or written by Apatow.

It is the director's fame that has allowed him to bring together such an important cast and — without anticipating names — to get several surprising cameos by famous personalities. Karen Gillan, Iris Apatow, Peter Pascal, Leslie Mann, Fred Armisen, David Duchovny, Keegan-Michael Key and Kate McKinnon are some of the main figures. Defeated actors, drug addicts, marital problems or unspeakable secrets. Familiar stories, seen in many satires, although here Apatow achieves moments of unusual ferocity. You still have to remember that film people like to make fun of themselves. Everyone has their moment, but it is Pascal, in his role as a delusional actor, who achieves something beyond mockery.

The film is too reminiscent of A Movie War (Tropic Thunder, 2008) directed by Ben Stiller, with Stiller, Robert Downey Jr., Jack Black and Tom Cruise. In the comparison it is clear that it is not at that level.

Apatow looks with some distrust at the world of cinema filmed with so much green screen in the background and even more so that of directors who call themselves independent and abandon all their principles to do anything. But unexpectedly where it achieves its best results is when it exhibits the madness of the times of the pandemic, when it reviews several of the ridiculous situations and authoritarian abuse that people suffered. That delirium is what balances The Bubble, which is not so original in other respects and which is lost in very bad jokes before it gets to say what it wants.

Compared to the rest of Judd Apatow's filmography, this movie available on Netflix is a throwback, even with its many good moments. But when many have forgotten what humanity has experienced in the last two years, The Bubble may remind us of some things that are funny here but were not in reality.

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