4 out of 5

Director: Quentin Dupieux

Like ‘Rubber’ before it, Dupieux’s ‘Wrong’ is a pitch at stretching a viewer’s ability to connect the unconnected and to sit through an experience even when we’re directly told there’s no point.  ‘Rubber’ was very deliberate on that while ‘Wrong’ takes a more oblique route, but in both cases Dupieux avoids coming across as a jerk and makes the films enjoyable by keeping them amusing, and generally gorgeous, and striking a tone that’s half-in half-out of the joke, like Quentin himself is unsure why these images might exist.  Which brings up the most common reference – David Lynch, who’s obviously made films based primarily in dream logic.  Out of his work, though, the closest in spirit is the Twin Peaks TV show, as Quentin’s characters share that dreamy town’s inhabitant’s habits of understanding that something is off, but instead of rejecting it in some way, asking for clarification as to why it seems off.  And so when Dolph’s (Jack Plotnick) dog goes missing, calling the pizza shop to ask about the reason they chose their logo, ‘working’ in an office where it always rains, reading a book on dog telepathy, and dealing with a suddenly mutated once-palm now-pine tree are happenings not exactly taken in stride, but it’s all permissible.  The film opens with a firefighter pausing to defecate in the middle of the street, glancing furtively over his shoulder as though to check if anyone’s watching.  A jerky police officer drops some random statements which mirror the lessons espoused by the officer in ‘Rubber.’  Dolph keeps searching for his dog, the clock strikes 7:60.  Things are WRONG, and then, suddenly, when we get to the conclusion, perhaps things are right again, and we wake up and take a grateful mouthful of reality and its okay.  The flick loses some momentum at spots, as it pretends to be insular but wanders off to other characters, but overall, this is another unique masterstroke from Dupieux.  But: he’ll have to grow on the formula from here to keep it interesting.