Tom is having a bad day. Well, I say he’s having a bad day … and he is … but he’s giving better than he’s getting to be certain. Unhinged begins with Tom Cooper (Russell Crowe) breaking into the house of his ex at 3 am, killing her boyfriend with a hammer and setting the place on fire. Next time you have road rage (which is essentially what this film is about), try to think about the movie that equated you with that guy.
Meanwhile, in another film, Rachel Flynn (Caren Pistoris) is having the kind of bad day that doesn’t normally end in homicide. She’s newly divorced and said distraction has cost her a client and made her late. Now she has to get the kid to school in rush hour when she runs into Russell’s truck. Preoccupied with his own thoughts, Tom Cooper fails to move for a green light, making an exasperated heroine lose it. She honks and eventually maneuvers her way past him. You have to catch the visual here; she’s in a sedan, he may as well be in a monster truck. Crowe gained something like 70 pounds for this role so he looks like a monster, too. Having this guy roll up to you in rush hour traffic and demand an apology would freak anybody out.
And when Rachel fails to apologize, it’s on. The day will not end until Rachel truly understands what “having a bad day” is all about.
So I can’t say this is a great premise. Road rage by itself is hard to screenplay because I generally don’t want to sympathize with any of the parties involved. Also, it’s not that fascinating. Almost all road rage can be solved by counting to ten and reminding yourself that nothing is worth a car accident. It gets a little more challenging when the offender turns 
out to be a homicidal maniac, sure, but that seems a long way to go to school folks about the dangers of road rage, huh? However, I will take it; you want to preach? Preach.
The problem is this film was willing, nay determined to lose me like a perp loses a tail. Director Derrick Borte just knew he was making a horror film and not a statement film. Again, this is fine if the statement is: “All road rage leads to horror.” A tad irresponsible, perhaps, as cinematic statements go, but, hey, Americans love their cars and hate being inconvenienced or taking responsibility; so go ahead, pal, make your statement. Oh, I see, you aren’t so fascinated by your social commentary that you won’t allow the heroine to make her own series of bad choices. Hmmmm. And social commentary, again, isn’t enough for you to imagine the scenario by which Rachel t-bones Tom, idling, smacking straight into the driver’s side and overturning his vehicle … and he comes off better from the impact than she.
Sorry, uh uh. No. Hey, I see that Crowe developed his own set of built-in personal air bags, but they really don’t work the same way as the genuine article.
Unhinged had some elements of good filmmaking. Crowe is genuinely a scary man even when he’s not supernaturally enormous and Unhinged. This could well have been an effective horror, like Duel, or a poor man’s Crash. By Act III, however, Unhinged amounted to neither.
A heavy, angry, homicidal Russell Crowe-a
Proves equally dangerous as a rabid boa
Sure, he kills a few
And he’s got some harm to do
Still not as scary as his portrayal of Noah
Rated R, 90 Minutes
Director: Derrick Borte
Writer: Carl Ellsworth
Genre: Go up to the line between “socially responsible” and horror … and cross it
Type of being most likely to enjoy this film: I dunno … road rage wannabes taking notes?
Type of being least likely to enjoy this film: The victims of road rage
