Karpovsky plays an introverted, obsessed research scientist in “Rubberneck.”
Contrary to the slacker he plays on “Girls,” indie auteur Alex Karpovsky has an awful lot going on. Today sees the release of two films he wrote, starred in and directed, linked by their focus on romantic obsession.
In the dark psychological thriller “Rubberneck,” co-written with Garth Donovan, Karpovsky is Paul, an introverted research scientist who hooks up with a hot new co-worker (Jaime Ray Newman) after a company party one night. She thinks little of the dalliance, but he’s unable to let it go, pursuing her with increasingly unbalanced tactics.
In this Hitchcock-mumblecore hybrid (mumblecock?), volatile reactions loom under placid surfaces, whether in the lab or as Paul eats alone in his sparse apartment. And it makes the film’s occasional snatches of sex and violence genuinely startling.
Unfortunately, the interim stretches are a little somnolent. One can only watch so many shots of the daily goings-on in a research facility without tuning out a bit (though the one of Paul dissecting a guinea pig is nicely ominous). The conclusion, meanwhile, sees a melodramatic reveal straight out of the Hollywood playbook that this director generally seems to be working against.
“Red Flag,” a comedy Karpovsky has described as semi-autobiographical, sees an indie director get dumped by his live-in girlfriend on the eve of a tour around the Southern US with his pseudo-documentary “Woodpecker” (a real film of his from 2008).
You can practically smell the loneliness and the stale fried food — is there a difference? — as Alex (also his character’s name) steers his rental car from one tiny art-house cinema Q&A to the next, indulging in a fling one night with a cute bespectacled fan (Jennifer Prediger). At least, she’s cute until she reappears at his next screening in the next town the following night.
Joined shortly thereafter by his friend Henry (Onur Tukel), who’s desperate for a break from illustrating a hilariously morbid children’s book, Alex is blindsided when friend and stalker fall in love, making for an extremely awkward road-trip trio.
“Red Flag” is so much fun, it makes you realize what you missed in “Rubberneck,” which is the loose, comic ramblings of Karpovsky and his pals, so naturalistic that they read as improvised even if they’re not.
In an era when awkwardness is the new self-confidence, the director manages to be palpably neurotic without trying too hard. He has a good bead on his own (semi-autobiographical, but whatever) self-absorption and self-destructive tendencies, as well as the darker reasons we’re all looking to connect. As Henry says, “I want somebody to discover my body. Relatively early after I die.”
RUBBERNECK
2 STARS. Running time: 85 minutes. Not rated (sex, language, violence).
RED FLAG
3 STARS. Running time: 85 minutes. Not rated (sex, language). Both at the Munroe Film Center, 65th Street near Amsterdam Avenue.