Unhinged

As a psychothriller, it gives itself one simple assignment – to set your heart rate pounding through the roof. And on this level, with a lurid voltage that might require health warnings, it nastily delivers.

With any other actor as the menacing lead, Unhinged would have been a TV movie or straight-to-streaming release, but Crowe and a few well-executed scenes of action still manage to hold the viewer’s interest throughout what’s essentially 90 minutes of genre filler material.

Between its concise action and Crowe's scenery-chewing, Unhinged makes for an amusingly trashy B-movie, even if its social commentary never congeals.

A brutal action flick that’s running on ugly from start to finish, the film from director Derrick Borte flirts with having something to say about stressful, angry times and toxic masculinity, but settles for letting Russell Crowe glower, seethe and leave a whole lotta destruction in his gruesome wake.

While Derrick Borte’s filmmaking is bluntly efficient — and the vehicular stunt work impressive — the character is a windup toy, a dumb and dirty symbol of male grievance.

Despite its bullet-point nods to toxic masculinity and some glib armchair sociology about the rage-fueled society we have become, “Unhinged” doesn’t have much on its mind. Its sharpest subtext derives from the casting of Crowe himself, whose malevolent glare and low, insinuating growl are scarily believable here, even as they suggest a self-conscious dig at his own past persona.

Without Crowe's brooding performance, Unhinged would just be another forgettable, formulaic, functional B-movie. With the burly Kiwi on board, it is transformed into a forgettable, formulaic, functional B-movie starring Russell Crowe.

Road rage is taken its most violent route in this downright gripping thriller. A woman (Caren Pistorius) is having a bad day, which is made worse (much worse) when she has an altercation with a very upset and yes, unhinged driver (Russell Crowe). What could have been avoided with a simple apology turns into a non-stop series of malicious encounters, including several spectacular car crashes. To make a movie like this effective, you need a good villain and Crowe brings all of his talent to create this extremely bad guy. Director Derrick Borte has staged every scene with assured power and continual tension. This is one of those sure-fire audience pleasers that would have the viewers screaming at the screen (if only we could have crowds).

Crowe is giving a great fat bad guy performance, really good work. The movie honestly seems to think distracted drivers should actually die a horrible death.

2020 thriller movie. The man, whom the accumulated anger turned into a psychopath because he was not valued, is now darkening the lives of those who treat him rudely. Even though there are a lot of illogical scenes in the movie, Russell Crowe, who I always believed to be a great actor, is making him hate himself this time with his excellent acting. The only thing I regret is that the weight he gained made him lose his charisma. There is no nudity or sexuality in the movie.

Russell Crowe is about the only highlight of this film. I mean but come on the plot holes are completely ridiculous for obvious reasons. So much it leaves you as infuriated as the main protagonist.

YOU WILL HATE THIS MOVIE. This movie is truly another kind of terrible, but ironically Russel Crowe's character, while legitimately psychotic, is absolutely correct about the selfish character of the female lead and her lawyer 'friend' at the restaurant. LOL This movie is just one bad decision to the next followed by terribly illogical moments that make no sense. This movie will have you groaning and shouting at the screen for all its illogical nonsense and frustration and you'll want to slap the protagonist around for being so incredibly annoying, frail, stupid, selfish, and unlikeable while also laughing at how ridiculous and unbelievable Russel Crowe's character is and everything he does. **** writes this crap?