Unhinged

What I enjoyed most about Unhinged out was watching Russell Crowe and his attempt to not overact, lest the rest of the film suck. He mostly succeeds, although in a few scenes it's obvious he has to hold back a lot. Otherwise, though, I really struggle to find anything here that would make me recommend this generic thriller to anyone. The action scenes and chases are shot without any ideas, the supporting characters are only lightly sketched, and the ninety minutes damn near drag on. Moreover, thanks to the montage of real events that they drop on us along with the opening credits, it's obvious that Unhinged would dearly love to be not only a thriller, but a commentary on the current stress-ridden America. Unfortunately, however, it's too simple and unentertaining for that. In fact, if Russell Crowe wasn't in it, I don't believe the film would have made it into theaters. In fact, I don't think anyone would have been interested. There's nothing to it. (08/09/2020)

Back in the cinema after a five month hiatus and Unhinged is a pleasant surprise. Unhinged is a decent road rage thriller with raging bull Russell Crowe having a bad day and his rage escalates to the max when confronted by the sassy Caren Pistorius, who learns a life lesson she will regret forever. Russell has put on weight, but he's an unbelievable asshole who uncompromisingly dispatches anyone who crosses him, and during his violent attacks, I worried if he'd bring down the house. The film is a decent adrenaline rush from start to finish, and it doesn’t take its foot off the gas for a moment. Russell plays the psychopath impeccably, commanding respect in every scene and the unexpectedly high bodycount is not far from double digits, plus it's very nicely R-rated, which is always a treat in the cinema. The story doesn't bring any twist or surprise and those who are nitpicky will find a few logical flaws, but I had a great time and exhaled at the end, and that's enough for me in this case at most. Story***, Action****, Humor>No, Violence****, Entertainment****, Music****, Visuals****, Atmosphere****, Suspense****. 8/10. (31/07/2020)

Gosh, all the fat Crowe jokes have all been picked over. As for the film itself, it's a scattershot compilation of themes revolving around behavior behind the wheel, the problems associated with communications technology, the obligatory turning from the victim into the hunter, and the changing times that leave some people behind. It's all terribly superficial though, as often the characters are punished pointlessly by the film (the woman painting her eyes in the car couldn't have prevented the fatal accident anyway), we don't really learn anything about the background of the antagonist who tries to capture attention for a while like a latter-day D-Fens, and the whole line about how easily we can be tracked through a communication device falls flat as no one is able to track down the villain, who makes no effort not to be tracked down, throughout his killing spree. Unfortunately, as a god-awful thriller, it doesn't really work either, as the film tries several times to convince us that John Goodman can sneak up on someone quietly from behind, no one in the convoy notices when another car repeatedly crashes into the car next to it, and it's also so poorly edited that at times it feels like the film is getting rid of some content at the last minute. And the car chases are cut in the same mode over and over again A (shot of the heroine's car), B (shot of the heroine in the car), C (shot of the antagonist's car), D (shot of the antagonist in the car). (13/12/2020)

A decent theme, which did not turn out exactly as I’d imagined. I was especially pleased with the performance of Russell Crowe, who easily convinced me he had the weight of a slaughter pig. The story was nicely paced, I felt entertained the whole time, but as time went on, I was increasingly annoyed by logic holes. I didn't really understand the idleness of the police. There was also another 110-pound female version of T-800, who was unstoppable, even by a hydraulic press. If the screenwriter had made a more honest effort, I wouldn’t mind giving it a higher rating. (20/11/2020)

A straightforwardly paced genre film that would like to stand alongside similarly focused cult films in the vein of Duel or The Hitcher, but it's too routine a see-it-and-forget-it B-movie for that. If it wasn't for the impressively disturbing Crowe, who pulls the whole thing off despite all the incongruities (and there are many) and the unlikeable clowns that the viewer is supposed to root for, it wouldn't even be worth paying attention to. PS: It is a pity that Hauer is no longer alive, there could have been a duet "how the Driver picks up the Hitchhiker". (18/11/2020)