Bubble Boy

Bubble Boy centres on Jimmy Livingston, a young man born without a functioning immune system who has spent his entire life inside a sealed plastic enclosure in his bedroom, cared for by his intensely watchful mother. His world is upended when Chloe, the neighbour he has loved since childhood, leaves to marry someone else at Niagara Falls. Determined to reach her before the wedding, Jimmy builds a portable bubble he can travel in and sets off across the country, accompanied along the way by a varied group of strangers.

Blair Hayes directed the film from a screenplay by Ken Daurio and Cinco Paul. Jake Gyllenhaal plays Jimmy, with Swoosie Kurtz as his mother, Marley Shelton as Chloe, and John Carroll Lynch as his father; Danny Trejo and Verne Troyer appear among the supporting cast. The production, a Touchstone Pictures release made with French involvement, cost about 13 million dollars and took roughly 5 million dollars worldwide.

Audience response was modest: on IMDb the film holds 5.7 out of 10 from around 37,000 votes, and on TMDB it sits at 5.8 from just over 600 votes. A critics' rating of 4.5 out of 10 from 85 reviews places it below even those viewer scores. Running 84 minutes, it mixes adventure, comedy and romance.