Review of Rubber (2010) by Liam U — 20 Jul 2011

When I heard that "Rubber" was a film about a killer tire that terminates its prey with the use of telekinetic powers, it instantly became a "must-see." I love horror, I love theater of the absurd, and I can appreciate cinematic ambition. Sadly, this film commits a fatal error in its first scene. There's one rule that uniquely stands for not only horror, but for theater of the absurd, and for ambitious films: don't qualify yourself.

When the film opens, we see a sheriff calmly exit the trunk of a sedan (hyuk, hyuk), and he delivers a monologue explaining in some lengthy detail that this film, Rubber, is dedicated to the lack of reason that permeates all motion pictures, and apparently all of reality, itself (though science will probably dispute the latter).

Essentially, the film tries to inform us that the emperor has no clothes from the get-go by considering itself a film without reason.

This has three negative effects: firstly, those long scenes assuring us that everything adds up to nothing end up throwing all stakes right out the window. We don't care what happens, so the horror and tension fall flat. The audience is left uninvested in anything that happens this movie.

Secondly, theater of the absurd works because it defies conscious explanation. Basically, "Rubber" has already explained in its opening sequence that its screenwriter/director set out to negate all logic, and thus our suspension of disbelief is fucked with, given this meta-BS shoved down our throats. The audience sees the surrealist antics as grounded in pretension and is unimpressed.

Lastly, an ambitious film need not attempt to critic-proof itself. Not only does laying out your film's single reason for being make it easy for critics to deconstruct your movie and roast you on a spit, but it makes your efforts of making a movie about a tire come to life a moot point. Good art succeeds in "showing us," instead of "telling us." Instead of a boring monologue, the director could have used clever writing and camera technique to critique movies, the film's audience, or to send whatever message he wanted to. The audience is disappointed when they realize the movie's only curve ball is its premise, which can be found on Wikipedia.

Also, it should be mentioned that while the movie just flat-out sucks as a whole, it's better than Pirates 4, if only because it's shorter.