Rubber

In filmmaker Quentin Dupieux's darkly comic French horror flick, the central “character” is a ferocious automobile tire—self-propelled and mute—that emerges from the sand near a desert town in the Southwest and goes on a killing spree, using telekinetic powers to make people's heads explode. The script combines elements of low-budget exploitation films with a more high-minded postmodern angle: think Scanners meets the metafiction of Donald Barthelme. Meanwhile, a group of annoying spectators led by a nerdy accountant (Jack Plotnick) watches the murderous events from a distance through binoculars, while Lieutenant Chad (Stephen Spinella) pursues the “villain.” These voyeurs are essentially watching a movie within a movie…until they begin dying from poisoned turkey—all except a wheelchair-bound fellow played by Wings Hauser. Rubber is just as absurd as it sounds, which doesn't necessarily mean it's funny. Not until the final 20 minutes or so does Dupieux begin to hit comedic pay dirt and take advantage of the creative freedom established from the beginning. But beyond the novelty of the storyline, the movie's half-formed themes related to truth-versus-illusion simply aren't articulate enough to give much heft to the deliberately ridiculous premise, making this hit-and-miss effort only a strong optional purchase. [Note: DVD/Blu-ray extras include interviews with director Quentin Dupieux (9 min.) and costars Jack Plotnick (8 min.), Stephen Spinella (4 min.), and Roxane Mesquida (3 min.), an HDNet behind-the-scenes featurette (5 min.), and trailers. Exclusive to the Blu-ray release is the BD-Live function. Bottom line: a solid extras package for a disappointing film.] (M. Sandlin)