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movie review - Rubber

the journal of Michael Werneburg

twenty-seven years and one million words

Kokubunji, 2021.06.24

This is a movie about a pissed-off semi-sentient car tire that discovers it has psionic abilities. Developing a bald obsession with a young woman, it sets out to .. well, I'm not sure. Featuring a cast that includes people gathered* specifically to observe the tire's activities and a not small body count, the writers provide spare dialogue and avoid well-worn cliches or treading on the characters in a way that's refreshing. The only jarring note for me came in the coda, in which the titular character leading a gang of similar tires into Hollywood. I felt that the point had been made and that this was unnecessary.

I'm not good at puns. Wait, is anyone?

Strongly recommended. With a caveat that it won't be for everyone.

*This verb has different meanings.

rand()m quote

It has always seemed strange to me...The things we admire in men, kindness and generosity, openness, honesty, understanding and feeling, are the concomitants of failure in our system. And those traits we detest, sharpness, greed, acquisitiveness, meanness, egotism and self-interest, are the traits of success. And while men admire the quality of the first they love the produce of the second.

—John Steinbeck, Cannery Row