Rubber - A Film by Quentin Dupieux

"All great films, without exception, contain an important element of 'No Reason'."

"Life itself is filled with 'No Reason'."

French filmmaker Quentin Dupieux has crafted what can only be called a genius homage to modern storytelling. He has taken everything that is so overdone and run in to the ground and created a brilliant and often hysterical satire of it. From the opening scene you realize you are in for a crazy and brilliant ride through the mind of a true artist.

'Rubber' is a story of loneliness, murder, voyeurism, love, pain and death all bound together in a completely unbelievable scenario.

In 'Rubber', The Spectators watch through binoculars, the life of Robert, an inanimate tire, who unrealistically and inexplicably comes to life and begins a journey of self discovery that quickly leads to chaos and murder. When Robert comes across an obstacle in his path, he simply crushes it and carries on. When crushing doesn't work, he realizes that with his new found psycho-kinetic powers he can destroy them with his mind. Rolling aimlessly through barren deserted land he rolls across a road and is stopped in his treads by the stunning Sheila. Leaving death and destruction in his path, he follows her to the nearest roadside motel. Meanwhile the Spectators are giving running commentary on the progress of the tire and slowly become a large part of this 'No Reason' storyline.

This film is meant to be a stand alone tribute to the fact that modern movies don't necessarily have to make sense to be entertaining. Dupieux seems to be saying that even without reason, you can make a movie work.

I watched this movie once and when it ended it seemed like I had missed something important that the story teller was trying to teach me. I thought about it for awhile and watched it again with a more student-like mindset.  The following is my interpretation of this message.

Filled with udder ridiculousness, like some characters knowing that everything is fake and part of a 'show' being put on for the Spectators, this movie makes bold statements about the quality of films being produced today. With some of the half diluted and dumb stories that Hollywood is remaking and spoon-feeding the general public as 'New and Exciting' material, it is not surprising that if you take the same story and apply it to something ridiculous, like a tire, the material seems stupid and unbelievable.  Wake up! Stop supporting crappy films that have no interesting story or artistic presence. Crappy teen vampire movies, remakes of movies that aren't even ten years old, even sequels (Big Mammas: Like Father Like Son? Are you kidding me?) A major scene in 'Rubber' basically screams at you that the crap will continue if there is still someone out there watching it. Once the Spectators are gone, the scene will end. 

This is of course my interpretation of the material, upon watching it you may have completely different thoughts on the subject matter. I'd be curious to hear what you think of this film.

I really enjoyed the film 'Rubber'.  It was written wonderfully, acted just as well and beautifully shot and edited together. The only thing that really brings this movie down (a lot) is the lack of audience that I believe will understand how deep and meaningful the themes in it are. This movie might not be for you. I highly doubt a lot of people will enjoy this film. It runs slow, it can be confusing at times, and if your brain is not ready for all the symbolism and satire then what you will see is simply a movie about a killer tire, which will obviously suck. For that I think 'Rubber' needs to be rated twice. Once for the film geeks that will understand and enjoy the hard work that the filmmaker has put into it, and once for the casual moviegoer who just wants a movie to make sense and be entertaining.

The film geek in me rates this 9 Tires out of 10.

The entertainment junkie in me rates this 5 binoculars out of 10.

Why did I use those measurements? No Reason.

If you want to watch 'Rubber' you can rent it from Itunes (what i did) before it hits theaters April 1st (limited release). Be careful in watching it though, you may fall in love with this movie and your Fiance might look at you like you're stupid.

 "Goodbye, Mr. Bond."