Rubber (Magnolia Pictures) | Under The Radar

Rubber

Studio: Magnolia Pictures
Written and directed by Quentin Dupieux

Apr 01, 2011 By Hays Davis Web Exclusive

An opening shot of wooden chairs strewn upright along a desert road. A man standing, holding bunches of pairs of binoculars, obviously waiting for someone. A car appears, knocks down each of the chairs, stops, and an officer of the law emerges—from the trunk.

What could all of this mean? Rubber amusingly addresses, early on, the lack of a reason for the inclusion or omission of certain elements of movies, and then launches into its own series of events for your consideration.

Writer/director Quentin Dupieux presents an automobile tire as the film's star. Shaking free from its resting place in a desert dump, the tire goes for an unsteady spin before rolling in earnest with a new lease on life. The tire instinctively asserts itself, testing its surroundings by flattening a discarded water bottle and crushing a scorpion. Frustrated by its initial inability to crush a beer bottle by rolling over it, the tire pauses, trembles, and succeeds in breaking the bottle by sheer force of psychokinetic will.

The aforementioned binoculars are handed out to a group of people who watch the tire and comment on its progress. They are aware that filming is in progress, with one spectator even admonishing another who is trying to "film the film."

Only some of the actors are aware of the fictional nature of the action, however, and at times they happily traipse back and forth over the line separating plot from observation, deeply confusing the actors portraying "characters." Meanwhile, the tire eventually makes human contact and attempts to settle into some semblance of a human-type lifestyle at a nearby motel: spying on a lady showering, watching TV in bed, and trying out the swimming pool.

The meta elements and the tire's primal instincts are naturally bound for an irreconcilable clash, thanks in no small part to the tire's unique ability and murderous inclinations, and Dupieux sees that we have a good time getting there. Rubber beats its audience to the punch in its self-awareness before handing over the wheel to us. And for all of its inherent humor, the film actually manages to dredge pathos from the uncertain existence of a rubber tire. (www.magpictures.com)

Author rating: 7/10

Rate this movie
Average reader rating: 8/10