Rubberneck
Tribeca Film | Release Date: February 22, 2013 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
57
METASCORE
Mixed or average reviews based on 14 Critic Reviews
Positive:
7
Mixed:
5
Negative:
2
Watch Now
Buy on
Stream On
Stream On
Stream On
Stream On
Expand

Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
83
IndieWireEric KohnFeb 19, 2013
Rubberneck has more in common with the growing Karpovsky oeuvre than it may appear -- and even inadvertently critiques it. Read full review
80
Village VoiceErnest HardyFeb 19, 2013
Karpovsky is unsettlingly good as Paul, and Newman's Danielle is sexy and layered. Read full review
80
The Hollywood ReporterJohn DeForeFeb 19, 2013
A 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." Read full review
75
Entertainment WeeklyOwen GleibermanFeb 20, 2013
The 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. Read full review
70
SalonAndrew O'HehirFeb 22, 2013
Rubberneck immediately put me in mind of the classic slow burn of vintage thrillers like Fritz Lang’s “M” and Michael Powell’s “Peeping Tom,” although Karpovsky and co-writer Garth Donovan have cited all kinds of other things, from “Michael Clayton” to “Caché” to “Fatal Attraction.” Read full review
70
VarietyRonnie ScheibFeb 22, 2013
Unlike Steven Soderbergh's twisty "Side Effects," Karpovsky's picture seldom surprises, its strengths lying in a leisurely journey toward a clearly predestined denouement. Read full review
63
Boston GlobeTy BurrFeb 28, 2013
What’s good about Rubberneck is also what makes it tough to watch: Karpovsky burrows under the skin of this repressed romantic nebbish until the frame seems ready to burst. Read full review
60
Time OutKeith UhlichFeb 19, 2013
A too-pat ending also spoils Rubberneck (shorter: Mommy made me do it!), though it doesn’t ruin the steely pleasures of the filmmaking. Read full review
55
NPRIan BuckwalterFeb 22, 2013
The thriller elements of the plot — which Karpovsky delivers quite ably, with an electric tension that carries through much of the film — aren't really balanced by the personal revelations on which Karpovsky eventually hangs Paul's problems. Both the mystery and the character piece wind up feeling incomplete. Read full review
50
The PlaylistDrew TaylorFeb 22, 2013
Rubberneck is a thriller too drab and self-obsessed to ever be truly thrilling. Read full review
50
The A.V. ClubScott TobiasFeb 20, 2013
The 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. Read full review
40
New York Daily NewsJoe NeumaierFeb 21, 2013
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. Read full review
38
Slant MagazineJesse CataldoFeb 17, 2013
The film takes on high-concept ideas that it can't sustain, and which only make its other problems more obvious. Read full review
30
The New York TimesRachel SaltzFeb 21, 2013
It’s dragged down by non-scene after non-scene, and filmmaking choices that don’t earn their keep. Read full review
More From This Movie

57 Critic Reviews

tbd User Reviews

Details & Credits|Trailers

Current Movie Releases
By MetascoreBy User Score
1 81 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple
2 77 Project Hail Mary
3 75 Send Help
4 73 Hoppers
5 72 The Sheep Detectives
SEE ALL
Essential Links
New on Amazon Prime Video
New on Netflix
Coming Soon to DVD/Blu-ray
SEE ALL