Unhinged Review

Certificate: 15

Running time: 93 minutes

Starring: Caren Pistorius, Russell Crowe, Gabriel Bateman, Jimmi Simpson, Austin P. McKenzie, Juliene Joyner.

Directed by: Derrick Borte.

The story: A woman is terrorised by a violent stranger after a road rage incident.

The verdict: Unhinged is a special film, but probably not for the reasons that you might be expecting. It is not special because of its content but rather because it was one of the first films to be released back at theatres following several months of closures. With the current limited release schedule, it is great to see Unhinged make that decisive step to still go for a theatrical release.

Unhinged makes an effort to play on our disenfranchisement and unrest, and by setting the action in 'The City' and calling the antagonist 'The Man,' the audience is invited to feel that this could happen to anyone and could happen anywhere. The fact is that yes, incidents of road rage and terrible explosions of anger can happen and do happen, however the events that transpire in Unhinged require a healthy dose of suspended belief.  And I absolutely hate saying that because a pet peeve of mine is people bemoaning films with cries of "But that wouldn't happen in real life!" Well, I am now a hypocrite because throughout Unhinged, I had to make a concentrated effort to suspend my belief. Not only is the action unbelievable, but Unhinged could definitely give some horror films a run for money for stupid decisions made by characters. Not so much "Don't run up the stairs," more like "RING THE POLICE!"

Unhinged is a really violent and at times distressing film. From viewing the trailer or reading the synopsis, you could guess that things might take a violent turn but the level of violence shocked me. Director Derrick Borte begins the film with a montage of other road rage incidents and it appears that Unhinged is telling the audience that we all need to be a bit more patient and compassionate, but that message is soon lost in the explosion of sadistic violence. I felt myself flinching throughout a lot of the film and there were even some shock moments too where the audience jumped or gasped.

Russell Crowe is really interesting in this role, there are times when he has the most cringe inducing dialogue but I have to admit that it was kind of great to see this acting heavyweight throw himself into a role like this. Though I cannot decide if it was great because it was a great performance or if it was just so unbelievable to see Crowe in this B-movie esque film.

There are a lot of times when Unhinged is so blatant in its direction that it is painful. The audience will not fail to see every plot coming because it is so obviously spelt out - there is a plot point coming up concerning a phone so the dialogue will mention the phone several times then a shot will pan to the phone. I can understand why the film did this, but for me it made the film so predictable.

However, above everything previously mentioned that could be probably be forgiven, what irked me the most about this film was its conclusion and overriding message. After a strangely cheesy ending, especially given what proceeded it, Unhinged's message appeared to be - don't beep your horn at anyone. And okay, maybe we all need to be a bit more horn shy but really?! So rather than the insane man that goes around murdering people being in the wrong, it is actually all of us who use the horns of our cars that should re-evaluate our behaviour. As the kids might say - face palm. And also, and this may possibly be reading a bit too far into things, but Unhinged also gave off the impression that a woman should know her place. I do believe that this was entirely unintentional, but there was certainly an undertone that because this woman dared raise her voice to a man, now she must be punished. And if by the end of the film, she has learned to be submissive, then jobs a good'un. As I say, I do think that may be reading too much into things, but I really have to question what Borte wants the audience to take away from this film.

Despite all that I have said, I do believe that a lot of audiences will thoroughly enjoy Unhinged. It is for all its faults, an engaging film and it does keep the audience on the edge of their seats. And hidden among some of the excessively violent scenes, was one scene which I thought played out incredibly creepily and effectively. Unhinged is a trashy popcorn film and its outlandishness will appeal to many. However, the unbalanced social commentary, the over the top violence and the strange morals meant that Unhinged is a film that I wasn't overly impressed with.

The rating: ✮✮