Rubberneck Reviews

Alex Karpovsky's performance digs out the character's menacing, damaged and sympathetic qualities in equal measure.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/4

A disturbing and deceptively subtle psychological thriller ...

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A creepy number, half suspense drama and half brooding character study, with a strong dash of local flavor and a low-budget feel.

Full Review | Original Score: 2.5/4

Karpovsky's pic seldom surprises, its strengths lying in a leisurely journey toward a clearly predestined denouement.

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Immediately put me in mind of the classic slow burn of vintage thrillers like Fritz Lang's "M" and Michael Powell's "Peeping Tom"...

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It's like a homicide thriller directed by Todd Solondz.

Full Review | Original Score: B

Unsettling [and] tough-minded ...

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Boston-area actor-writer-director Alex Karpovsky creates an original story of obsession, delusion and murder that is fresh and well made.

Full Review | Original Score: B

Although it's initially jarring to see Karpovsky tackle overly serious material both behind and in front of the camera, "Rubberneck" has more in common with the growing Karpovsky oeuvre than it may appear -- and even inadvertently critiques it.

Full Review | Original Score: B+

With Hitchcockian self-assurance, Karpovsky is able to inject an element of surprise and uncertainty even into the film's final moments.

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...this is impressive filmmaking, especially from a filmmaker who also delivers a complex, sympathetic performance despite his character's unsettling characteristics.

Full Review | Original Score: B

Tale of romantic obsession trades nail-biting suspense for credible realism.

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One can only watch so many shots of the daily goings-on in a research facility without tuning out a bit.

Full Review | Original Score: 2/4

"Rubberneck" charts Paul's mental deterioration, the tension stretched well beyond his breaking point and my patience.

Full Review | Original Score: **

It's dragged down by non-scene after non-scene, and filmmaking choices that don't earn their keep.

Full Review | Original Score: 2/5

Both the mystery and the character piece wind up feeling incomplete.

Full Review | Original Score: 5.5/10

The film works better as an uncomfortable character drama than as a murky family mystery, which Karpovsky deepens with some psychobabble. Still, a nicely sinister and shuddersome effort.

Full Review | Original Score: 2/5

Rubberneck feels more like an attempt to pull off a psychological thriller than a credible example of same, as if it were a sample reel for some future project.

Full Review | Original Score: C

You can see genuine talent poking through the festival-circuit tedium; hopefully Karpovsky's better instincts will win out next time.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/5

The film takes on high-concept ideas that it can't sustain, and which only make its other problems more obvious.

Full Review | Original Score: 1.5/4