Bubble (2006)

Bubble is a 2005 film directed by Steven Soderbergh. It was shot on high-definition video.

It featured some unusual production aspects. In traditional terms, the movie has no script. All lines were improvised according to an outline written by screenwriter Coleman Hough, who previously teamed with Soderbergh on Full Frontal. Bubble was shot and edited by Soderbergh under the pseudonyms Peter Andrews and Mary Ann Bernard (taken from his father's given names and his mother's maiden name, respectively).

The film uses non-professional actors recruited from the Parkersburg, West Virginia / Belpre, Ohio area, where the film was shot. For example, the lead, Debbie Doebereiner, was found working the drive-through window in a Parkersburg KFC.

Bubble was released simultaneously in movie theaters and on the cable/satellite TV network HDNet Movies on January 27, 2006. The DVD was released a few days later on January 31.

It was nominated for Best Director for Steven Soderbergh at the 2007 Independent Spirit Awards.

Bubble is the first of six films Soderbergh planned to shoot and release in the same manner.

The score for the movie was composed by Robert Pollard, who lives in Ohio.

Synopsis

The movie is about three people living along the Ohio River who are just able to make ends meet. The first character is Martha (Debbie Doebereiner), a portly middle-aged woman seen getting ready for work and taking care of her elderly father. On the way to work at the doll factory, she picks up co-worker Kyle (Dustin James Ashley). Kyle is a tall and thin young man who is intensely shy and very quiet, although he opens up with Martha. He is, as she tells him, her best (and perhaps only) friend, as she has to spend most of her time working and taking care of her father.