Rated R for strong violence and language throughout.
Now playing wherever theaters are open. In these modern times, we find ourselves more reckless and mean-spirited when we get behind the wheel. Now, I’m not saying everyone goes straight for road rage, but there does seem to be an increase in angry reactions towards messy drivers. Many attribute this to everything happening in the world, from economical issues to racial inequality to other things. It just seems like more people are angrier than ever. This is the issue explored in the new thriller Unhinged, starring Academy Award winner Russell Crowe as a man who has been driven mad by all of the shortcomings in his life. Now, he’ll cross paths with Rachel (Caren Pistorius), a single mother who is struggling with her own frustrations along with her son Kyle (Gabriel Bateman). When she angrily honks Crowe’s unhinged character at an intersection, she finds herself the newest victim in his path of destruction. Based on this premise, if you’re going in thinking this is going to be a deep character study about the effects road rage has on our society, you’re going to be disappointed. This concept is nothing more than jumping off point for the film, before diving headfirst into 90 minutes of basic road thriller clichés. However, while it would be super easy for the movie to fall short because of this, Unhinged doesn’t. What the movie is is a fun throwback to pulpy 80s thrillers that exploited our fears of everyday problems to create a good time. While it could’ve benefitted more from a much deeper study of its themes and characters, director Derrick Borte and writer Carl Ellsworth craft a decently entertaining film nonetheless. One of the film’s biggest advantages is its inclusion of the world around our hero Rachel. A fair amount of thrillers try to pen the lead as crazy to everyone around them so they’ll be forced to face the villain alone. In this film, Rachel receives help from almost everyone around her. The police are also smarter than in most thrillers. All this involvement from the greater environment makes the movie feel more unique and immersive. It’s also unique in the way it portrays its central villain. While he is a psychopath that kills anyone that stands in his way, there’s something almost sympathetic about his motivations. We’ve all had days where we’ve felt like we wanted to take our anger out on the world. It’s weird to say this, but the fact that we know about what makes him so mad makes him more watchable. This is also aided by the performance of Russell Crowe. He has played many different roles during his career, but most of them have been serious, or larger budget films. Here, he gets to try his hand at a low-budget thriller, and does a great job in the end. While the character is interestingly written, Crowe’s performance also makes him quite watchable, and it’s hard to imagine anyone else in the role after watching him. There are also some well crafted action and thriller set pieces throughout. A lot of them rely on people getting run over by cars and trucks that come out of nowhere. These jump moments are some of the most entertaining ones, as they help us to realize that this stranger isn’t messing around. Unhinged isn’t a reinvention of the genre of “psychos on the road,” but it plays with the formula in a way that makes it fun nonetheless. It wrings thrilling action out of our fears of excessive road rage, and Russell Crowe makes for an entertaining and somewhat sympathetic killer. It may not dive too deep into the potential of its concept, but it’s fun enough to be forgiven for being a somewhat run-of-the-mill thriller.
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