I Don't Think You Know What a Bad Day Is!

Kaleidoscope's newest is on Ingenious's & Solstice Studios's production of "Unhinged".  Directed by Derrick Borte, the movie stars Russell Crowe, Caren Pistorius, Jimmi Simpson, Gabriel Bateman, & Austin P. McKenzie.  Rated 'R', it has a running time of 1 hr., 30 min.

The exposition details Tom Cooper (Crowe) who, as we see in the coming moments is mentally unstable, breaks into his ex wife's home, brutally kills her & her boyfriend, sets the house afire, & drives away as the house explodes.  Transition to the protagonist, Rachel Hunter (Pistorius), a newly divorced single mom; her brother Fred (McKenzie) & his fiancee have come to live with Rachel & her son Kyle (Bateman).  Awakening late the same morning as Cooper's incipient rampage, Rachel rushes off with Kyle to get him to school & to meet a client.  Mired in rush hour traffic, she stops behind a truck (driven by Cooper) which has stopped at a red light.  The light turns green, &  Rachel honks repeatedly at the truck which has not moved.  She rushes off around the truck.  Stopping at another red light, Cooper comes to a stop by her car's side.  Cooper lowers his windows, signals for Kyle to lower his, and demands an apology from Rachel.  She returns a half-hearted one & drives off.  This inflames an already enraged Cooper.  He follows her to a convenience store where Rachel has stopped for gas.  Act I segues here as Cooper's intentions rapidly become clear.

Little known Borte directs in a generic, action movie style.  There are no surprises here; what one thinks one will get with the film is what one gets.  There are numerous POV shots, 'herky-jerky' camera movements as we follow the car & truck thru the streets, & numerous action set-pieces that leave little to the imagination.  The plot-driven screenplay by Carl Ellsworth ("Disturbia", "Red Eye"), while it lacks a true exposition & any character development, does provide for a 'roller coaster' experience,  Although the 2 films he wrote above have a more stylized plot, "Unhinged" promises pure adrenalized action, mayhem, &, yes, realistic horror.  It is a prescient script in that the bedlam, tumult, & madness it displays is increasingly mirrored in the direction in which our nation is going.  One need only look at the events happening almost daily to realize that Ellsworth's cinematic concoction is not so far-fetched.  One can only hope that after the coming election we, as a nation, do not become a country of Coopers but, rather, a republic of sanity, kindness, purity of spirit, compromise, & cooperation.  The acting is fairly one-note which is all that the screenplay requires.  Crowe has put on a weight gain, a-la DeNiro in "Raging Bull", although in a characterization without any of the depth of DeNiro's Jake LaMotta.  All of the other characters are just static types that merely serve the plot.  The other production values are without merit although professionally accomplished.

I give "Unhinged" 5.5 out of 10 nuggets.  If you enjoy watching real horror, terror, maiming, & such that we see increasingly in our country, this film is for you.  Otherwise, you should use discretion lest you become a bit unhinged.