Rubber

Starring: Wings Hauser, Roxane Mesquida, Jack Plotnick, Stephen Spinella

Synopsis:

When Robert, an inanimate tire, discovers his destructive telepathic powers, he soon sets his sights on a desert town; in particular, a mysterious woman becomes his obsession.

If ever a film was going to polarise audiences it was going to be one about a sentient killer tyre that rolls around a desert highway picking off local wildlife and the odd motel cleaner.

The movie begins by immediately breaking the 4th wall (always a risk) by hammering home the idea of “No reason”. Using major movie examples, the narrator effectively answers the most immediate question on the viewer’s mind; why a movie about a killer tire? No reason, apparently but this is one of many distractions in the movie, away from the true aim. There’s almost an unapologetic air about it, as if the filmmakers are saying that they know it’s a very odd concept that came out of ideas for a song video (my speculation and not based upon factual knowledge) but stay with it, it might prove as unpredictable as you’d expect – and of course it does. What possible predictions could you make about a movie featuring a killer tire? The joke is, that the movie is more about audiences in modern times than it is about the tire’s swath of destruction.

Despite the odd premise and the unusual set up of having an audience within the movie watch the proceedings - only for most of them to get poisoned part of the way through - adds an intriguing element to what is a one-joke plot; a sentient tire carrying out telekinetic murders. What is interesting about the movie is not only what it is about but how the Director delivers it. The direction and cinematography, for one, is as lush and striking as any big budget Western as we follow the tire on its journey through the countryside and on to the highway.

There are two or three distinct plots that entwine to form the movie; following the tire called “Robert” and the mayhem it causes, Lt Chad (played by Stephen Spinella) and his attempts to halt the movie partway by killing most of the audience within the movie, and the story of Sheila (played by Roxane Mesquida) who appears to be running from something and finds herself the object of unrequited desire from Robert.

We’re drawn into the tire’s journey as it appears to pick itself up, stumble about a bit before heading off. I’m assuming that we witness the birth of the tire’s animate existence as it appears to test its telekinetic power on insects, birds and then a rabbit before taking out a human being.

Dupieux cleverly references Leone and Grindhouse movies through the look and feel of the movie. The resurgence of the “grindhouse” style movie must be partly to blame for the making of Rubber as we have, here, the ultimate grindhouse movie that you would expect to find playing in a rundown, and grimy cinema. It ticks all the boxes of grindhouse cinema, with it being exploitive, odd and fun. There is something fresh and exciting about Rubber whilst it all seems oddly familiar; the Leone landscape; the “Bates” motel; the Mad Max like shots of the tire travelling along the highway; exploding heads ala Scanners.

The final denouement, that takes the tired idea a little further, suggests a sequel; perhaps entitled “Rubbers”? Maybe not. The last images are closer to apocalyptic than anything else seen in the previous running time as there is a hint that the sentience is spreading. It’s a perfect close to this movie and well thought out, along with everything else. Perhaps it means that although audiences might not stick with it until the end, there’s no stopping it. The entire movie comes across as if a great amount of time had been spent crafting the scenes. This is primarily why I believe that the movie deserves to be taken notice of and not just written off as a quirky idea stretched for 80 minutes. There are no superfluous scenes cluttering the movie’s landscape and the deeper subtext is explored throughout.

The movie did not generate peals of laughter form me as I viewed it, instead I sat in subtle awe that someone could make a movie about a killer tire and make it so damn well. I guess that some viewers must have sat laughing out loud to inspire the publicity quotes. If the tire had been a person, then the movie could still have worked, that’s the genius, but take away the other plots and the movie would have just been a potentially long twisted advert for Pirelli or Dunlop tires.

The acting is, on the whole, very good. Given the nature of the movie it could be totally acceptable for the acting to be seen as “hammy” and “schlocky” but I felt that it worked fine. All of the main cast get moments to shine and I certainly wouldn’t have minded having this movie on my CV as an actor starting out. Clearly, Wings Hauser saw something that he liked and probably got sold on the concept.

Incidentally, Quentin Dupieux is also known as the electronic artist Mr Oizo and it is in this incarnation that he composed the music for the movie. Some of you may remember the 1999 hit “Flat Beat” which was famous for his video of a yellow puppet called Flat Eric. It was used in the Levi ads at the time.

Summary

You’ll either love or hate Rubber but one thing we all must agree on – no-one can say that it is a format that has been done to death. What’s next at the duplexes, in the horror genre? Scream 4. I rest my case.

8 out of 10 (Wayfarer)

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