Bubble vs To Die For

Gus Van Sant has been making these movies—Elephant, Gerry, Last Days—that are all quiet and slow and “realistic”. I think they’re meant to be meditative and arty and daring or whatever, but mainly they’re just dull. And cheap, I guess. And this would be fine, if they were tempered with anything else. Steven Soderbergh makes small, quiet films too, but he also takes full advantage of all the movie stars he knows, so that for every Schizolopis or Full Frontal, you get a Traffic or Ocean’s Eleven, where the actors get the extra big trailers, all the donuts they want, and the movie is coming to your city opening weekend. And so I saw Bubble, even though it’s tiny and shy and Van Sant-esque, because I know Soderbergh still has all Clooney’s numbers on speed dial and he’ll make something fun and well-lit next time around.

Bubble, fortunately, is surprisingly good. Three employees in an Ohio doll factory carpool to work, take breaks, do their jobs. Over and over, just like you, although hopefully your job isn’t as subliminally creepy as the one that requires gluing eyelashes onto those hollow rubber heads. We only meet three of the employees (and I’m not convinced there are many more): Martha, Kyle and Rose. Martha feels motherly toward Kyle, driving him to work each day, taking him for donuts, and taking his picture because he’s her best friend. She’s sad and lonely, and not necessarily as creepy as those eyeless dolls, but that’s a matter of opinion. Kyle is one of those random, mumbling townies that somehow always gets a hot girlfriend, and he finds the potential for one quickly in Rose, in the first couple days she’s on the job. Martha is immediately suspicious of Rose, who is a young single mother, but makes roads toward friendship anyway, babysitting one night while Rose goes out.

We only know Martha, Kyle and Rose for a short while, and mainly their lives are just work, small-talk and the occasional vending machine snack. I won’t spoil the turn their lives take, but I will tell you this: if you’re watching Bubble and are becoming nervous that it might be one of those movies like Last Days or Gerry where people are just going to whisper and walk around for two hours, you needn’t worry. Something truly surprising and dramatic happens in Bubble, and Soderbergh’s actors—who are all amateur and from the same area as the characters—are more than up to the challenge the script gives them.

So, if you’re a producer, Soderbergh might say he needs money, but he’s lying. Soderbergh just needs a small town, a camera and a weekend with some sad locals. On the other hand, if you’re producing a Gus Van Sant movie, and dude says he’s fine for budget, send him a check anyway, and make sure he uses it. You never know, he might just make something like To Die For again. Wouldn’t that be great.

To Die For puts Gus Van Sant where I think he belongs: on a small budget (not non-existent, just small) with movie stars getting their hands dirty. To Die For is one of my favorite movies; it’s cool and funny and scary, with a flawless cast captured at perfect moments in their careers. Nicole Kidman is Suzanne Morello, who wants to be famous more than anything, and it’s the movie that made Nicole Kidman. Joaquin Phoenix and Casey Affleck play Van Sant’s random townie mumblers, which we’ve since learned was acting, but back then for all any of us knew…well, they sure are good at being random and mumblers, and darn it if I didn’t believe they were townies from whatever town To Die For is set in. (By the way, I’m so glad Joaquin Phoenix is famous now, because for years I’d say he was one of my favorites with only To Die For as proof, and you guys were all “That random mumbler?”)

If you haven’t seen To Die For, bump it to the top of your Netflix queue immediately. Nicole Kidman plays a local weather girl who wants to be famous and is convinced her devoted husband (Matt Dillon) might have to die to free her up for stardom. So, she seduces a couple loser teens (Affleck and Phoenix) into doing the job for her. Illeanna Douglas plays her sister-in-law, and almost steals the show, giving one of the funniest fourth-wall-breaking performances I can think of. But it’s Kidman to watch, because she’s a big fat star, and To Die For is the proof any doubters might need. As the final straw in her seduction of Phoenix’s James, she gets out of a car and dances in the rain to Sweet Home Alabama. You’ll be over it later, but during that moment, Nicole Kidman is Marilyn Monroe standing on that subway grate. She’s Michelle Pfeiffer on the piano. That stuff’s not free, you know.

Bubble: B+

To Die For: A