57
Metascore
14 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com
- 80The Hollywood ReporterJohn DeForeThe Hollywood ReporterJohn DeForeA character-driven take on true-crime fare, Alex Karpovsky's Rubberneck marks a solid dramatic turn for a filmmaker best known for playing comedic parts in indie films like "Tiny Furniture."
- 80Village VoiceErnest HardyVillage VoiceErnest HardyKarpovsky is unsettlingly good as Paul, and Newman's Danielle is sexy and layered.
- 75Entertainment WeeklyOwen GleibermanEntertainment WeeklyOwen GleibermanThe movie is scattershot (intense at some moments, slack at others), but it earns its docu-style creepiness, and Karpovsky's stretch as an actor is daring and authentic.
- 60Time OutKeith UhlichTime OutKeith UhlichA too-pat ending also spoils Rubberneck (shorter: Mommy made me do it!), though it doesn’t ruin the steely pleasures of the filmmaking.
- 50The A.V. ClubScott TobiasThe A.V. ClubScott TobiasThe entire story hinges on a thinly calibrated twist ending that’s meant to provide emotional weight to Karpovsky’s actions, but instead clarifies them to the point of utter banality. There’s no mystery left to linger.
- 50The PlaylistDrew TaylorThe PlaylistDrew TaylorRubberneck is a thriller too drab and self-obsessed to ever be truly thrilling.
- 40New York Daily NewsJoe NeumaierNew York Daily NewsJoe NeumaierThe 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.
- 38Slant MagazineJesse CataldoSlant MagazineJesse CataldoThe film takes on high-concept ideas that it can't sustain, and which only make its other problems more obvious.
- 30The New York TimesRachel SaltzThe New York TimesRachel SaltzIt’s dragged down by non-scene after non-scene, and filmmaking choices that don’t earn their keep.