Unhinged

Unhinged
Starring Russell Crowe, Caren Pistorius, Gabriel Bateman, Jimmi Simpson
Directed by Derrick Borte

Thanks to COVID-19, the summer theater season was effectively shut down, with the most major blockbusters being moved to 2021 (or, in some cases, straight to VOD).  Come August, many movie theaters began to re-open with just one problem: they really didn't have any new films to show, since production companies didn't want to release their heavy hitters in such an unstable climate.  So instead theaters started showing "classic" films (such as "Inception," "Lord of the Rings," and "Jumanji: The Next Level" - not that I think that film is a "classic," but whatever), along with one newcomer: "Unhinged."  Maybe this wasn't the best film to come out after people have been shut in their homes for months and being told repeatedly they can't go out and enjoy their old lives, because this film isn't one to escape from such reality - but rather enhances its most negative aspects.

Tom Cooper (Russell Crowe) has had a very rough go at life: his wife left him, he lost his job, and pretty much he's broke, so what's his solution?  Burn down his ex-wife's house and murder her and her new man inside.  Meanwhile, single mother Rachel (Caren Pistorius) is late to work after not setting her alarm, but has to take her son Kevin (Gabriel Bateman) to school first, after receiving a call from her divorce lawyer Andy (Jimmi Simpson), and on the way to his school finds out she's been fired, and worse finds herself stuck in traffic.  She manages to turn off the highway behind a big pickup truck, and when it doesn't go at the green light, she honks angrily.  Soon the truck pulls up next to her, and its no other than Tom Cooper, who now focuses his ire, anger, resentment, hatred, and every other negative feeling toward Rachel, dedicating his day to literally destroying her world and killing everyone she loves.

"Unhinged" truly lives up to its name, as it's a totally off-the-wall revenge film that's not really revenge but rather one man's truly insane thirst for anarchy.  In today's heightened political climate - not to mention social unrest and overall general fears for the future - this isn't necessarily the best film to see to escape such reality.  The film has an obvious message delivered during the opening credits - the police are terribly understaffed, and basically you're on your own.  This is the "reality" that Rachel finds herself in, as her constant calls to the police result in them saying they can't help her because they're too busy doing something else, and as viewers we wish we were doing anything else other than watching this literal trainwreck of a film.

The film does try to tell another message about the importance of being nice and kind to one another, but this time the motive isn't because you're generally a good person and wish for the good in everyone, but if you don't, you might find yourself a target.  Yes, road rage happens all the time, but hopefully not to this extent, as Crowe's Tom Cooper literally sets out to kill all of Rachel's friends and family for simply honking her horn at him.  It's insane, but stranger stuff has happened in real life I suppose.

The film is easily a B-rated slayfest, as its only redeeming quality is with the unique and brutal kills Tom commits (most in broad daylight and in front of many witnesses, none of whom step in to help in any way, and of course there's never a police officer anywhere around the town).  Apart from that, this is a wholly simple film that seems to be written by a second grader.  The foreshadowing is strong with this one (a mention of a cell phone not being locked?  I'm sure no one will use that.  Talks about a Fortnite action plan, sure that won't come into play.  A frantic search for scissors at the start of the film, positive we won't see those again), and you can pretty much predict everything that'll happen right to the smallest detail even though you're nowhere near psychic.

While the performances were terrible, it can't just be blamed on the lackluster script, but on the seemingly obvious feel that no one wanted to do the film in the first place.  Russell Crowe is way better than this in every respect, and comes off as a cartoonish villain who's laughable more than menacing, and obviously phoned in his performance.  While the film tries to be as realistic as possible, no one would ever believe Caren Pistorious's Rachel would be as stupid as she is, and I can pretty much guarantee anyone in her position would've done everything differently than she did, as she basically reacts to Cooper's every action without relying on an actual plan of her own until her tween son comes into play. 

The film does (probably unintentionally) give some important life advice: always keep your phone locked, think about the problems of others, and try to be nice to one another.  If you take these lessons into account, it might be worth it to watch this mess - or just practice common sense.  Typically you'd find a protagonist and antagonist in film; someone to root for, and someone to root against.  Yet here both characters are equally insufferable and wrong, leaving you unable to root extensively for or against either one, and just hope somehow a meteor or something would come down and kill them both - but don't hold your breath.

Trying to shed light on modern problems, "Unhinged" instead comes across as a glorified violent film that doesn't wholly portray its underlying message, but instead relies on gross kills and an uninspired performance by Russell Crowe.

The Score: D