…in which I review of a movie deserves its woeful IMDB rating.
[Originally my criteria was a film was considered not good if it had a rating below 50% and I’ll stick to that.]
ETA: I watched this in 2020…or 2021? I just didn’t post it. Luckily for you, I’m trying to blog more!
ETA 2: I wrote the previous ETA on 6th April and I STILL didn’t post it. Third time is the charm.
Unhinged
2020
After a confrontation with an unstable man at an intersection, a woman becomes the target of his rage.
I found the concept of this movie interesting, particular the social commentary it comes with. We open with Russell Crowe arguing with an unseen woman and leaving a house. The house then blows up. So, we know he’s a little loco already. Cool. Next we’re with the Mom (I don’t know her name, and I don’t think it’s important). Mom is going through a divorce. She lives with her brother and his girlfriend, and her young son.
They’re running late for school. Her son is quite sassy about it too, which irked me. Like, she knows she’s late, kid. Chill. Anyway, they get stuck in traffic. Son asks to use her phone and drops a nice bit of foreshadowing.
“No pass code? That’s dangerous!”
Is it, though? We will find out!
Fast forward to a green light and Mom honks aggressively when Russell Crowe doesn’t move. He then drives alongside them and motions for Son to roll down the window. Son obliges. Apparently, no pass code is dangerous. Rolling down the car window for angry man is fine.
Russell Crowe basically asks for an apology and Mom is like, nah, I’m good.
Look, if a person rolls up and asks you to apologize, just do it and get the heck outta dodge as quickly as possible. Even Son is like, ‘just apologize‘ but she refuses and Russell Crowe is like, ‘well, you’re gon’ learn today’.
What follows next is a ridiculous chain of events. Russell Crowe follows Mom to a gas station but she tells the attendant not to call the police, is dismissive to the guy who walks her to her car (and gets run over for his troubles!). We find out that she didn’t even take her phone into the gas station with her. She left it in the car and now it’s gone.
Now, Russell Crowe has access to her entire life! He uses that information to kill her lawyer in a packed diner. They cut to people filming the murder and I know it’s something people do, but why? If I see a crazy man smashing a dude’s head into a table I am OUT OF THERE. I’m gone. I’m not a witness. I’m not giving a statement. I am Patrick Swayze in Ghost. Gone.
Anyway, from there, the movie escalates, Russell Crowe kills someone, sets someone on fire and still he’s in pursuit of Mom.
Long story short: she manages to best him, the brother survives and everyone lives happily ever after.
Except for the people Russell Crowe blew up at the start of the movie and the brother’s girlfriend.
It was worth it, though. Mom is on the move in the near future, and she’s about to flip off a driver when…she remembers her traumatic experience and decides to let them pass. Her son, who is better than me because I’d never get into a car with her again, says, “good choice” and there we have it.
This movie was an experience. Was it horror? Was it comedy? I don’t know.
I was, however, reasonably entertained.
Rating: 6/10
supernatural snark 