The summer of 2001 may well go down in the annals of Hollywood as the worst ever, and Bubble Boy is the capper, the finale, the rancid icing on a rotten cake. If this summer’s flicks seemed to consist almost entirely of scum scraped off the bottom of the cinematic barrel, then Bubble Boy proves that that barrel actually has no bottom and is merely a doorway into a hellish void, an abyss of Bad Movies that is eternal and infinite.

All writers — all artists — pour themselves into their work. They have to, if it’s going to be any good. Whether very personal projects — the ones that an artist really opens a vein for — resonate with audiences depends, sometimes, on whether we feel any kind of simpatico with the artist and what he’s revealing, or whether the work demonstrates any indication of self-reflection on the artist’s part. There has to be a point in baring one soul’s, one’s secret fantasies, to the world, after all.

The last 10 minutes of the film are deliciously, preposterously pulpy, as if everyone finally figured out that you just can’t take this kind of thing seriously and at last was having some fun with it. If only the whole movie had been so devil-may-care.

God, this is an excruciating movie. Perhaps the problem is that I didn’t see it back when I was 19 and still thought Kiefer Sutherland was cute. No, wait, I never thought Kiefer Sutherland was cute.

Not too many movies touch me so much that I need to retreat to somewhere private and sob my eyes out — this was one of them. Enormously poignant, this intimate tale of one family’s immigration from Hungary to the United States accents how the yearning for freedom can cause the deepest pain, and how … more…

It’s a story oft told, but that doesn’t mean another one brought to life with humor and insight isn’t worth a look. Neurotic Eli (Dan Bucatinsky: Bounce) has all but given up on the dating scene, but acquiesces to a blind date his best friend, Brett (Adam Goldberg: Babe: Pig in the City), sets him … more…

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