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There's nothing wrong a decent thriller where two people face off on the road using their wits and their heavy machinery. So this movie could have been the Duel (1971) of the 2020s (or at the very least a Joy Ride (2001)), but unfortunately, it lacks a director like Steven Spielberg or John Dahl to make it work.

After a shocking opening scene, director Derrick Borte starts off nicely with a disturbing montage that shows us the horrible consequences of explosive aggression and road rage. For a long time, his movie seems to be a passionate plea to have more patience and compassion with others in a harsh society where everyone is under constant pressure, because you never know what the other person is going through. Too bad that he gradually undermines this message with cheap shocks and sadistic violence.

It's good to see Russell Crowe again after such a long absence, because watching his heavily disturbed maniac snap and terrorize a lady that just happened to piss him off is definitely one of the scarce highlights of the film. No Oscar material, but the man is still an acting heavyweight (no pun intended... well, maybe a little), so much so that leading lady Caren Pistorius cannot hope to carry this movie in his presence. In fact, her character is so passive and uninteresting that I felt very little sympathy for her plight. I don't know if it was the intention here, but I always love movies where you cheer for the bad guy for a very long time, like Face-Off and Law Abiding Citizen; everyone loves tragic villains, and you always hope that the makers can delay that moment where you lose sympathy for them until the very last.

Unfortunately, this moment comes way too soon in the movie. In the first half we get some motivation from Crowe's and Pistorius' character for their actions, but that wears off quickly in an endless rampage that seems to be an excuse for a lot of torture porn. There is nothing fundamentally wrong with that, as long as you keep developing your key players. Especially psychopaths work best when they remain completely unexplained mysteries, or when they get fleshed out properly, like the psychologic-meltdown classic Falling Down. However, Crowe and Pistorius never get beyond their minimal and one-dimensional backstories. When the bad guy gets to the point where I no longer rooted for him (again, way too soon), you hope that your allegiance changes back to the heroine. But Pistorius' character keeps making such bad decisions (up to and including a laughably set up climax) that by that time, I no longer cared about either, and could only worry about the collateral damage.

Too bad for Crowe and Jimmi Simpson, who probably have one of the best scenes together when this movie is still promising. But the pressure to marry action with psychology, and to increase the stakes with such disregard for realism really starts working against the film and characters. I don't mind violence in movies at all, but it should make me invest in characters, not get desensitized and bored.

I like a good battle of character like everyone else, but when the action and suspense start feeling stale because I'm no longer emotionally engaged, then it's just mostly a waste of time. But granted, it's not a complete disaster and it had its moments. I hear people praising this movie as super-suspenseful, so by all means, try it out. But don't say I didn't warn you.

You will never flip the bird to another driver again once you've seen "Unhinged". This is the most intense road rage movie since Spielberg's "Duel" in the 70's with the pressures of life, marriage and death at its core. Except the Truck is now just a Ford Pick Up with no discernible logos. Obviously the Blue Oval didn't want to pay for product placement...it is an older model like its manic driver played by Russell Crowe. This man can happen to anyone. He only picks one project each year, but he chooses well. His body of work speaks for itself. His co-star Carin Pistorius moved to New Zealand as a child from South Africa and she brings a gritty, real performance to the big screen. She also delivers the best action movie heroine line for 2020. Veteran horror child actor, Gabriel Bateman, hold his own as her on screen son, Kyle. This movie is adrenaline charged from the moment the curtain opens and rarely takes it foot off the pedal. The road carnage and Rustys salary make up most of the 33 million dollar budget, but its investors will be making money off this film and buying many more new cars in the years ahead. This is Crowe at his best and most threatening study of pure menace under Derrick Bortes direction.

At this moment in time we all find ourselves in, going to the movies is more than a mere novelty, its a genuine treat, so in that way we can be thankful for Unhinged that opened in Australian cinema's this week.

Lathered in a hearty dose of Falling Down, a little bit of Duel and a lot of very angry Russell Crowe (more diabetic angry Kernel Sanders than Maximus), there's nothing new or even particularly great about Derrick Borte's grim thriller, but it does do exactly as what was promised in all the promotions for this grizzly affair, that sees Crowe go into full meltdown mode against Caren Pistorius's unsuspecting mother Rachel in a road rage incident that will make you think twice about beeping the horn next time you're on the road.

Originally supposed to be the film that heralded in the return to cinema complexes in America at the start of July, Derrick Borte's topically examination of the rage that is bubbling away within society at this present time, whether its from hour long traffic jams, relationship breakdowns or the mistrust in the "system" is far from nuanced or balanced but this simplistic and over the top thriller does provide enough thrills and spills to keep us invested throughout and offers Crowe one of his funnest roles in years.

Not often found playing the downright bad guy, Crowe is at his menacing best as the unnamed man haunting Rachel's day, that goes from bad to worse very quickly after running into him on the road on the way to the school drop off, from the moment we watch him commit a brazen act of violence in the films opening scene to the the mere look he gives through the window of a car, Crowe is chewing up the scenery at every chance he gets and it makes watching Unhinged a guilty good time.

It must be noted that outside of being extremely far-fetched (as is often the case with such films) and playing out in a fashion that is typical of this sub-genre of thriller's, Unhinged is frequently unpleasant.

There's barely a moment of respite from the horrors occurring throughout and if your blood pressure was high before going into a screening of the film it would go through the roof by the time the film is done with you, as while its well-staged and performed, there's an oppressive bleakness seeping through the entirety of Borte's film, making it one to watch when your up for such a grim and grimy affair.

Final Say -

Charged forward by a snarling and frightening Russell Crowe, Unhinged is a polished thriller that achieves exactly what it promises to do, nothing more and nothing less.

3 Fortnite strategies out of 5

Let's just start off with this, It Is A Movie.

It just kills me when people carry on about believability when watching a fast paced action thriller. What are the odds of someone living through something like this vouching for the realities of the situation? In all honesty, most of us like to think we know what we would do but is there a chance that the pressure, fear and self preservation of the moment could alter our decision making skills? I think it could and I chose to look at films like this with that in mind. These were the decisions they made in the moment and only the absolutely absurd should fall into a category of unrealistic.

I liked this. Russell Crowe was fantastic in his portrayal of a fed up lunatic. He really did a great job. I thought the story could have benefited with a bit more backstory on the characters but it was decent. The action scenes were well choreographed and the special effects were nicely done. It was a tense ride for sure and it got pretty brutal at times. I'm a horror buff so that is right up my alley but I read a review that described it as torture porn and it's not that bad unless you are a total lightweight.

I know this will be a film I watch more than once. Forget the review snobs and check it out for yourself.

Slow start, more action as it goes but it's difficult to get over how the cops can't get this guy