Rubber

For a movie about a killer tyre (yeah, you read that right), it wasn't anywhere near as silly or fun as it should have been, and it didn't really have the B-movie charm I was expecting. It attempts to justify its premise by saying straight off the bat that it's satirical of the fact that movies often do things "for no reason", and that life is full of "no reason", then proceeds to be as random as it possibly can. For me, it was much more an excuse for randomness rather than anything meaningful.


It markets itself as a Comedy, and it does have some funny moments. A lot of the time you just have to laugh at the complete absurdity of it. In the end, though, the sheer fact that it seems to be taking itself much more seriously than it should becomes funny in itself. Maybe that's what they were aiming for, but I was expecting the acting and writing to be so-bad-its-good in a B-movie kind of a way, and I got a bit of that, but not nearly as much as I should have. It ended up just being bad a lot of the time.

In terms of its other (supposed) genres, well, it's not dramatic and it's not scary. So take that as you will.

You certainly can't accuse Rubber of being unoriginal. But this is a prime example of originality without substance. It kind of fails at everything it actually tries to be, but comes very close to succeeding inadvertently.

It's an interesting piece of meta filmmaking, but I'm with you on the film.

I think I sort of agree with your review, however it worked a little better on me. Perhaps, because I enjoy these types of flicks in general. Anyway, I'd give it a solid

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We are both the source of the problem and the solution, yet we do not see ourselves in this light...

It's complete rubberish.

But the music is great and it looks totes amazing on Blu-Ray.

+rep for HC for inventing and using the word "rubberish". Obvious pun, but I liked it.

I thought it had a great amount of charm and class as a comedy. Something that has been lacking even in indie film for a while now.

Has anyone seen this?

Written and directed by Quentin Dupieux and released in 2010.

I bought this a few months ago, thought it was weirdly awesome. A film about a killer tyre called Robert. Although the only reference to his name being Robert is on the blurb of the DVD case - its not mentioned once in the film.

The opening scene (see below) had reeled me in although about half an hour in i was contemplating turning it off as the acting was pretty wooden and it was all a bit too strange but i'm glad i powered through.

It sums up my attitude towards life at times perfectly.

Opening monologue from the beginning is (two policemen standing on a dusty road);

"In the Steven Spielberg movie E.T, why is the alien brown? No reason.
In Love Story, why do the two characters fall madly in love with each other? No reason.
In Oliver Stone's JFK, why is the President suddenly assassinated by some stranger? No reason.
In the excellent Chain Saw Massacre by Tobe Hooper, why don't we ever see the characters go to the bathroom or wash their hands like people do in real life? Absolutely no reason.
Worse, in The Pianist by Polanski, how come this guy has to hide and live like a bum when he plays the piano so well? Once again the answer is, no reason.
I could go on for hours with more examples. The list is endless. You probably never gave it a thought, but all great films, without exception, contain an important element of no reason. And you know why? Because life itself is filled with no reason. Why can't we see the air all around us? No reason. Why are we always thinking? No reason. Why do some people love sausages and other people hate sausages? No ****ing reason.
Ladies, gentlemen, the film you are about to see today is an homage to the "no reason" - that most powerful element of style."

I'm not really sure I get the point you're making, sorry. Like I'm not sure what you mean by 'no reason' and how it applies to those questions, surely all those questions can be answered?

This one for example: Worse, in The Pianist by Polanski, how come this guy has to hide and live like a bum when he plays the piano so well?

Because he is hiding from the nazis and if he didn't he would be killed?

And the JFK film one, well it happens because Oliver Stone wants to depict real life events in his film... he doesn't just put it in for no reason.

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Daniel M; i'm pretty sure people like you are part of the reason i've never really bothered with internet forums in the past.

I wasn't making a point, if you'd really read what i wrote......

'Opening monologue from the beginning is (two policemen standing on a dusty road);'

Sorry if I came across as hostile/aggressive, I didn't mean to sound like a dick, it's not like I was insulting in my reply or didn't give constructive reasons, I just honestly didn't understand some of the lines you mentioned? I haven't seen the film anyway so I can't say much more about it.

I think the lines are supposed to be absurd/irrational. The JFK one is probably the giveaway.

I'll equally apologise. Being at work definitely doesn't help my patience.

I didn't mean that i thought you were being rude or aggressive - it was the fact that you hadn't read my post properly that irked me.

If you hadn't seen the film anyway then why comment? Not being rude myself here but personally i wouldn't give input about something i have no knowledge of.....

Yeh, fair enough, don't let me put you off getting involved in the forums, it's good fun trust me

i have to disagree with you there Yoda, i don't think they're supposed to be adsurd/irrational, although i can see why it can be viewed that way - the things he's saying can all be answered.

I interpret it to do with the fact that we're all here floating on a ball in space and nothing has a reason to it. We give everything reasons and significance in order to give our lives more meaning and make us understand life more.

I think despite the comedy premise this film is much deeper than some give it credit for.

What are your thoughts on Andy Serkis' portrayal of The simian protaganist in Rise of the Planet of the Apes?

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"The greatest danger for most of us is not that our aim is too high and we miss it, but that it is too low and we reach it." - Michelangelo.

It works when asking why the events in those films happen, perhaps, but he specifically asks why they happen in the films. Why is JFK shot in JFK? Because it's based around the event where he's shot. As you say, that can be answered. Asking why things happen in real life, though? You can get a little more Zen with that, to be sure.

Anyway, I think the opening lines are meant to be humorous, but also serve a functional purpose. The film's premise is absurd, and it helps get around that absurdity to just acknowledge it up front. Audiences will often gladly take a movie as it presents itself, so there's a lot of reason for a movie like this to simply establish a baseline of crazy right from the get-go.