Bubble Boy

Decked out in a bubble suit with retractable rubber arms, a naïve romantic with immune deficiency journeys cross-country to stop his true love from marrying Mr. Wrong in this unnecessary and insulting remake of John Travolta's touching 1976 drama The Boy in the Plastic Bubble. Jake Gyllenhaal stars as the innocent optimist who sports a never-ending smile despite being raised by an extremely overprotective June Cleaver (Swoosie Kurtz) with twisted morals, fiber-loving psychosis and unique patriotic practices. On his way to Niagara Falls, the sheltered youth encounters a cow-worshipping ice-cream truck driver, a knife-wielding biker and an overzealous cult on helium with Fabio playing their brainwashing leader. Despite this perfectly cast cameo, director Blair Hayes' dream-crushing film displaying a cruel world of evil mothers and exaggerated prejudices made me cringe.