Born without immunities, Jimmy Livingston (Jake Gyllenhall) grew up in a sanitized plastic bubble, sheltered from what his overprotective mother (Swoosie Kurtz) tells him is a germ-infested world. But Jimmy’s thin sheet of plastic can’t contain his emotions, and he falls head over high tops for his gorgeous next-door neighbor, Chloe (Marley Shelton).
One afternoon, following a discussion about the legendary “”Bubble Boy”” with her immature friends, Chloe pays Jimmy a visit out of curiosity and the two become friends. It’s painfully obvious, though, that Jimmy’s condition will prevent him giving Chloe the ultimate gift of physical contact. She eventually seeks solace in someone else, a less attractive jerk who uses her for her good looks. Now Jimmy, who has never been out of his house, has three days to get from California to New York and stop the girl of his dreams from marrying the wrong guy. Disregard any comparisons to John Travolta’s sappy 1976 television tearjerker, “”The Boy in the Plastic Bubble.”” Instead, Touchstone Pictures, the bastard child of the Disney family responsible for classic trash like “”Coyote Ugly”” and “”Play It to the Bone,”” has produced a loud, offensive, stereotypical road trip comedy that, despite all of its imperfections, manages to be extremely loveable and foolishly entertaining. “”Bubble Boy”” does stretch its premise a bit thin just to fill a 90 minute movie, and the inconsistencies become hard to swallow after a while. The humor, as well, can be offensive, stooping to take cheap shots at everything from organized religion to the chinese accent. Thankfully the film has a heart that swells as big as Jimmy