Rating: C+
Dir: Dick Mays
Star: Ash Hamilton, Rudy Eisenzopf, Roxzane T. Mims, Holly Morris
It would be easy to write this off as a shameless and inferior copy of Quentin Dupieux’s Rubber. After all, both share the same, ah… unusual element of a murderous car part. However, such an assertion would be largely incorrect. Indeed, if you go into this expecting anything like Rubber, you are likely to be severely disappointed. Which is fine by me, since I found Rubber pretentious and smugly self-indulgent. Although certainly possessing a number of its own issues, Hubcap is therefore ahead, simply by not being Rubber. It’s mostly a tale of small town life in rural Georgia – in a town which just happens to have a possessed, homicidal hubcap rolling around.
Trying to deal with this is local sheriff Rainy Lawson (Hamilton). She’s a former soldier who has become the first female sheriff of Gibson, following in her late father’s footsteps. Despite the loyal support of Deputy Poole (Eisenzopf), it’s a position which frequently brings her into conflict with local mayor, Jackie James (Morris). Especially after Lawson brings in black detective Bev Tyler (Mims) to the overwhelmingly white town. Oh, the hubcap? Yeah, that happens after a parking lot fight leads to a crippled GI getting run over. His blood splashes onto a hubcap knocked loose from the vehicle. It then becomes self-aware and self-propelled, roaming rolling the streets of Gibson, seeking its revenge, and also protecting others who are at risk of becoming victims of violence.
As you can imagine, it’s a bit of an awkward combination. Trying to mix absurdist, vigilante horror, with small town personal drama and a side of social criticism, would be tough for a more experienced director than Mays to pull off. It might have been better to make two separate films, given the severe differences in tone. I’d be lining up for the former, which is done in a fine, deadpan style. Lawson and Poole simply accept the concept of a killer hubcap, and get to work trying to find it [Sidenote: I learned hubcaps and wheel covers are not the same thing] Sure, on occasion the “string” is visible. It doesn’t matter when you have some lovely moments, like the hubcap sharpening itself on a rock, or peering into a window. Films like Attack of the Killer Donuts could have learned a lot from the approach here.
The rest, though, feels a lot less successful, coming over more as a parade of Southern rural stereotypes, with Gibson depicted as full of racism (overt or not) and domestic abuse. Lawson is an interesting character, with a number of unusual traits that add depth, helped by Hamilton’s portrayal. However, there are too many other people, cluttering things up and rendering elements like her romantic dalliance with the local doctor, supremely uninteresting. Worse, the hubcap ends up largely sidelined for this nonsense, though I will say, the ending is well-worked. It remains a quirky little work, and shows independent weirdness is the best kind.