Unhinged

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

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

This film won't ever win any serious awards. It is nothing more than a short-shelf-life popcorn film and, for that, it is great. I wanted to escape for a couple of hours and have an entertaining time and, I did.

Russell Crowe sure packed the weight on recently and in this, he is nothing short of a tank and whilst he was unpredictable, menacing and definitely unhinged - I can't help but feel it made certain parts of the film laughable (Hence the 6 out of 10). For example, if a guy of this size repeatedly punches a slim build woman than I doubt very much she is going to get back up again for another barrage of punches to land on her. The way Crowe moves, the force of his punches and the added sound effects of the "impact" make it sound like it would take someone's head clean off or, at the very least, knock them out cold. But, that's a minor gripe.

Some of the scenes are pretty tense but if you know nothing about the film, I would avoid the trailers for they give way too much away.

A cross between Joyride (Paul Walker) and Falling Down (Michael Douglas), although that's almost an insult to the latter.

Yes it is paint by numbers filmmaking but if you want something well acted, enjoyable (if you like film violence) and looking to pass the time - you'll leave happy enough. You just probably won't return to watch it again any time soon.

The 6 rating is mainly for Russell Crow. I mean if she would have given that courtesy honk in the first place all of this could have been avoided.