Written and Reviewed by: Eric R Lowther
Rubber (2010)
Written and Directed by: Quentin Dupieux
Hey, kids! It’s Eric R Lowther aka biguglyhairyscary back on the Hat with a few words on 2010’s “Rubber” from writer/director Quentin Dupieux. It’s the story of Robert, an unbranded, un-mounted used tire discarded in a desert area that gains sentience and telekinetic powers. How and why does he develop these powers and self-realization? No reason. How is it that he can roll along the desert roads with complete self-direction? No reason. Why did I like this movie and think you will, too? No reason…
“No reason” is really what this film is all about. We open with an absurd set-up with Lt. Chad (although referred to as “sheriff” in various parts of the movie as well) giving us and a large group of what appear to be unrelated spectators a little lesson in movie rationale and logic. He cites several examples of cinematic “no reason”, such as why E.T. is brown or why two characters fall in love in a movie. In fact, his entire entrance into the movie is full of “no reason” moments as the director keeps hammering home his concept to us. I won’t give you the details of his entrance since there are plenty of web reviews out there that will do that for you, I’ll just tell you that Lt. Chad’s (Stephen Spinella of “Ravenous”, one of my favorite cannibal movies and reviewed right here on the Hat earlier this year) monologue is quietly funny, packed with absurdity and perfectly sets us up for a story about a roving used tire seeking revenge on the world at large.
The spectators mentioned play quite a large role in the movie. They are just a big group of diverse people of all ages, colors, and backgrounds. There’s “no reason” given for why they’ve all been gathered together and given super-powerful binoculars that allow them to see Robert’s entire story unfold, including when he’s indoors or otherwise concealed. We start off with “no reason” why Robert is seeking revenge and why he’s seeking it through virtually random targets starting with the desert wildlife and moving up to humans that eventually piss him off enough to go all Michael-Ironsides-Scanner-Batshit on them by exploding their heads with his awesome telekinesis. Lt. Chad as well as a few others are in on Robert’s story from the word go, and the concept involving the spectators as it relates to the story is much akin to the old adage about a tree falling in the woods; if no one is watching, does the story truly exist? There are a few other ways you can take the philosophy jackhammer to this as well to come up with your own theories involving the spectators and their relationship with the movie’s reality, but there’s really “no reason” to. We watch along with the spectators as Robert finds a small oasis of humanity in a roadside motel, finds unrequited love at first sight, suffers abuse at the hands of humans that don’t realize he is about 17 steps higher than they are on the evolutionary ladder, and ultimately sees a sight so terrible it finally explains what his revenge kick is all about.
Hey Kids! Fun fact; writer/director Dupieux is also known as “Mr. Oizo”, a composer and musician popular on Europe’s techno scene. Luckily, “Rubber” is good enough that I won’t hold creating shitty, shitty techno music against him.
Now, let’s have a look at this thing. The film is technically proficient in all aspects and features some very good physical special effects as well as some mostly-passable CGI exploding heads. And people, there are lots and lots of exploding heads in this one. Robert is an angry little tire and pops heads like zits for the slightest real or imagined infraction committed against him. Stephen Spinella’s Lt. Chad is supposed to be a bit aloof and smug, but I think he goes a little too far with it and is almost wooden in a few scenes. Other than that, the acting is overall better than average for the indie scene. I was particularly impressed with the way Robert the Tire was handled, shot and edited. Dupieux obviously knew exactly what he wanted from his vulcanized star, and through good effects and smart filming and editing the tire does actually develop a bit of a personality, especially in the first third of the movie while we watch Robert learn how to stand, roll, and kill small wildlife through his telekinesis. Yeah, I said it; the tire actually does gain a personality on the screen. Also, I would be remiss if I failed to mention the “man in wheelchair” spectator played by 80’s near-A-lister Wings Hauser. He has a particularly vital role in this one, and just from this performance I can see his chops have mellowed from 80’s brand over-acting and have found their real rhythm.
So, the real question; is it any good? Yes, it is, provided you are a fan of the surreal, the absurd, and don’t need to be led around by a movie to enjoy it. The movie’s plot is linear, so at least it has that going for it. Otherwise, you need to understand this movie is truly founded on “no reason”. Don’t expect a lot of it to make sense, or at least don’t expect it to make sense right away. It also does drag a bit from the point Robert learns how to move and pop heads until we get a few more characters introduced, but if you like offbeat projects you’ll forgive it. The movie comes in at a nice and manageable 82 minutes, but quite frankly we could’ve lost another 5-10 minutes of footage showing Robert just rolling along the desert and deserted roads. A little of that goes a long way towards trying to make us feel Robert’s isolation and loneliness, especially when a lot of the shots like this don’t really have background music to further the feeling of… wait… what the fuck am I saying? I’m trying to apply a lot more reason to this than the film really needs or wants. It’s enough to say it’s long enough to tell its story but short enough that you shouldn’t lose interest, and if you like quirky cinema and animated objects not voiced by Angela Lansbury or Adam Sandler I’d say it’s worth at least a watch. If this little movie without reason sounds like something you can roll with, you can find it on Amazon and your usual online sources for about $15.00 DVD / $15.00-$24.00 Blu-ray, and it’s available for rent or instant viewing from Netflix as well.
Well, I’m out. Make sure you’re burning more brain cells through The Witch’s Hat family of podcasts and drop by our place over at the forums at Killer Reviews where you can leave feedback about the blog and podcasts, see a synopsis of Misfit Boy’s new film project “Werewolf Chicks Have Lots of Tits”, and let me know what movies you’d like me to retread. So with a tip of my imaginary hat to Keely, Root, Kyle, Grey, Misfit Boy and all the rest this has been biguglyhairyscary saying see ya, kids…
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