Face Off: Rubber

FACE OFF: "Rubber" (2010)

Directed by: Quentin Dupieux
Starring: Stephen Spinella, Jack Plotnick http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1612774/.
Official movie website and trailer 

Synopsis: "Rubber" is a movie that follows a tire (yes, a rubber tire) on adventures. The tire makes things explode. People gather in the desert to watch him. A cop pursues him.

Critic: Tara

"Rubber." Well, at least it wasn't a movie about condoms. It may as well have been, though. I will never get that hour and a half of my life back. Had this film been ten minutes long, it would have been endearing. Unfortunately, it was made as a full-length movie.

The film satirized everything at once, so I couldn't really tell if it was satirizing its own artistic cinematography, but the shots in the film were actually done masterfully. Another thing I liked about the movie was the soundtrack. There are only so many ways that the character of Robert the Tire can express himself, but the carefree music that accompanies his initial journey is amusing and expressive. Additionally, the acting talent are competent, which is interesting consider they interact with a tire.

The tone of this movie is summed up in one line by the character identified only as "black woman" when she says: "She'll start with a good blow job." Yes, the bad tire puns are endless.

Also, this kid in the movie says "It's already boring." It's good when the characters are actually aware that the movie in which they appear is making the audience fall asleep.

I don't consider a movie entirely valuable unless it helps me reflect about culture, country, or self. At the very least, it should make me laugh. This just made me groan and pine for that hour and a half. I should have read a book instead. Lesson learned.

This just left me wanting to slash a tire.


Defender: Jason

I am really watching this movie so I can make Tara watch it. Why? Really for no reason. "Rubber" is a forth wall shattering movie about a tire that comes to life and makes things explode. I feel the need to retype that. "Rubber" is a fourth wall breaking movie about a tire that comes to life and makes things explode. Yes, I retyped it, no copy paste here.

 "Rubber" explores the how we accept so many things in movies just so we can watch. I can actually think of an example of a movie that this happened to me. "Spider-Man." There was a moment where I honestly thought, “Holy Crap, Tobey Maguire is really good at swinging on those webs high above the city.”


In fact, when we stop letting this odd thing happen, we stop enjoying what we watch. There was an episode of "Falling Skies" where they captured an alien, these aliens were strong and able to stab people with their spider like legs. What do they keep them in? A cage made out something slightly thicker than chicken wire. They also didn't post a guard on the alien at all times. It wasn't the alien they captured but how lax they were afterwards that got me. It just didn't make sense. The second I lost my disbelief, the episode wasn't watchable for me. I saw past the thin veneer and couldn't get back to the other side.

This movie does nothing but give you implausible situations and they are so out their you follow along. They make you believe in the tire and hope things work out for the tire, while the tire does all these horrible things. It explodes small animals and goes on a killing ram...rollpage(?)

Don't get me started on subtlety; this movie starts by out right telling you its intentions while shatters the fourth wall. Then it reiterates its intention in the middle and end of the movie. "Rubber" is about as subtle as a punch to the groin.

Please see this movie and enjoy it. For no reason really.