Bubble Boy
Buena Vista Pictures | Release Date: August 24, 2001 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
41
METASCORE
Mixed or average reviews based on 21 Critic Reviews
Positive:
4
Mixed:
8
Negative:
9
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
80
Mr. ShowbizMichael Atkinson
The bubble-kid moms can whine all they want, but Bubble Boy is a liberated movie --liberated from tastefulness, of course, but also from logic, suffering, consequence, and temperance.
80
L.A. WeeklyMark Olsen
Playfully quirky film takes equal-time potshots at its many easy targets -- fundamentalism, intolerance, ethnic stereotypes. Read full review
78
Austin ChronicleKimberley Jones
It's a shame if the controversy surrounding Bubble Boy distracts people from what a smart, subversive, and genuinely good-hearted film it is. Read full review
75
San Francisco ChronicleEdward Guthmann
This movie has a sweetness at its core. Read full review
60
The New York TimesA.O. Scott
When it clicks, the picture should shock you into laughter -- enough to make you wish it were better and applaud its efforts anyway. Read full review
60
Los Angeles TimesJan Stuart
Bubble Boy simply has the gall to make light of one of the last untouchable left in America: disease. Read full review
58
Portland OregonianDiana Abu-Jaber
This is a semi-mean-spirited movie; had it remained that way, it could have redeemed itself. Read full review
58
Seattle Post-IntelligencerSean Axmaker
It's hardly original and rarely laugh-out-loud funny -- the filmmakers constantly fall back on the sight of bounding balloon Jimmy squeezing his way out of one situation after another. Read full review
50
Boston GlobeJay Carr
There's always been room for rudeness in humor. In fact, it can be invigorating. But Bubble Boy goes through the motions of being outrageous when all it's really got is a rage to conform to formula. Read full review
50
Miami HeraldCharles Savage
Belongs to that genre of movie that works hard to achieve a certain twisted and demented wit. Read full review
50
USA TodayClaudia Puig
Though there are some funny sequences, the frothy Bubble Boy evaporates without delivering enough belly laughs. Read full review
40
VarietyTodd McCarthy
Seems bent on creating equal-opportunity offense to many groups, but more often than not is appalling simply for its silliness and lack of comedic control. Read full review
38
New York PostJonathan Foreman
Fitfully funny at best, it's a sophomoric, facetious road comedy. Read full review
38
Baltimore SunStaff (Not credited)
It seems that in the movies, at least, there is a limit to how far low expectations can take you.
30
Village VoiceNick Rutigliano
The coke-fried gibbons behind Bubble Boy came to a trailblazing conclusion: The ideal filmic oddity is white, male, and -- a mother's deception notwithstanding -- perfectly healthy. Read full review
30
TV Guide MagazineMaitland McDonagh
Hard though this antic farce tries to be outrageous, its satirical jabs at American culture are obvious and juvenile, as is the use of Jimmy's plastic bubble as a goofy metaphor for fear of life. Read full review
30
Chicago ReaderLisa Alspector
This Farrelly brothers "hommage" replicates the mechanics of their work without echoing its spirit or complex tone, and many of the deliberate offenses fail to transcend mere exploitation. Read full review
25
New York Daily NewsJami Bernard
The bubble-boy niche is thankfully small. John Travolta began his career playing one in a TV movie, but this movie will undoubtedly finish off the genre for good. Read full review
20
New Times (L.A.)Andy Klein
Nearly every attempt at humor in this witless, completely reprehensible "movie" is mean-spirited and stupidly conceived at the expense of some group that deserves better. Read full review
10
Washington PostStephen Hunter
What a bummer! Certainly the meanest-spirited film ever associated with the Disney hallmark. Read full review
0
Entertainment WeeklyBruce Fretts
After enduring only a few minutes of this shrill debacle, you'll feel more trapped in the theater than Jimmy is by his bubble. Read full review
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