Sunday, April 3, 2011

Homage to No Reason

Rubber (2010) - Dupieux

A nebbish looking man with many binoculars dangling from his neck nervously waits in the middle of the desert. There are empty wooden chairs on the dusty road behind him. A police patrol car pulls up, painstakingly knocking down every single one of the chairs. From the trunk of the car, a sheriff emerges and points out that there are no reasons behind many of the great movies. "In Steven Spielberg's E.T., why is the extra terrestrial's color brown? No reason." and so on.

Rubber is about a tire with psychokinetic power. It blows up people's head. It beckons the question why anybody would watch a movie about a tire with psychokinetic power. If all the spectators are dead, they (actors) can all go home. But we watch, hoping something would happen. And it does- heads blow up, a pretty girl takes a shower in a desolate motel room, more heads blow up, and so on.

It's like a funny idea stretched to an hour and twenty minutes. Too self aware and jokey to be a true cult classic, Rubber is a fun little movie perfect for a lazy Saturday afternoon.

*This would make a great double feature with The Red Balloon.