{"id":21109,"date":"2020-08-19T20:08:42","date_gmt":"2020-08-20T03:08:42","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.cinemastance.com\/?p=21109"},"modified":"2020-08-19T20:08:42","modified_gmt":"2020-08-20T03:08:42","slug":"unhinged-dispatches-some-pulpy-jolts","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/?p=21109","title":{"rendered":"UNHINGED Dispatches Some Pulpy Jolts"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

This film is opening Friday, August 21st<\/sup> at open movie theaters and presumably some drive-ins. Streaming options have yet to be announced but may follow in the coming weeks.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

While most know actor Russell Crowe over the years for his\ndramatic endeavors (that have earned him 3 Oscar nominations and 1 win for Gladiator<\/em>),\nit appears that every once in the while the actor also enjoys having a little\nfun. That\u2019s perhaps a strange thing to say about the genre picture Unhinged<\/em>,\nwhich consists of an hour and a half of glowering from its tortured villain\nbetween scenes of violent physical assaults and cars crashes. However, it\u2019s\nvery clear from the outset that this film is an over-the-top genre picture and\nits central goal is not to delve into broken psyches, but instead dispatch a\nfew pulpy jolts.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Rachel (Caren Pistorius) is a frazzled woman dealing with a\ntense divorce, work issues and numerous family commitments. While driving her\nson Andy (Jimmi Simpson) to school, she finds herself stuck behind an SUV\nfrozen at a green light. Angry, she honks, only to have the unnamed driver\n(played by Crowe) start a conversation with her at the next light. A heated\nexchange follows, with Rachel unaware that the man has just had a violent and\npsychotic episode. The driver follows the mother and son through the streets\nand continuing to threaten them. Events escalate even further when the pursuer\ngets hold of Rachel\u2019s phone and begins not only terrorizing her, but brutally\nattacking her personal contacts. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

There\u2019s not a whole lot of backstory here. Protagonists\nRachel and Andy aren\u2019t given much opportunity to make an impression early on,\nonly carrying a few brief exposition-related conversations in order to set up\nlater events. This is also the type of film that regularly strains credibility,\nwith car after car crash occurring and the villain being able to bounce several\nvehicles off the road without, for the most part, suffering any serious damage\nto his own transport. And of course, the police only seem to get involved in\nthe proceedings when it\u2019s convenient for them to do so and they can be\ndispatched easily. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Still, while the movie doesn\u2019t have logic going for it, it does have a charismatic antagonist to carry viewers. While he\u2019s certainly taking the role seriously, Crowe also appears to be having a good time playing a maniac, snarling his way through proceedings. The performer delivers a couple of choice lines at Rachel\u2019s expense, staring her down and informing her that if she thinks she\u2019s already having a bad day, then he\u2019s going show her just how awful things can truly get. He does express personal frustration at being ignored and mistreated by others, but his take is not overly somber. Truthfully, it\u2019s the proper approach to the role, as some of his character\u2019s actions are truly disturbing and grotesque, which would otherwise put a damper on the requisite thrills and excitement as cars barrel down the road. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Another plus is the impressive stunt driving. Vehicles hurtle down narrow streets, spin out into traffic, plow into medians and occasionally drive right through people. These sequences are as exaggerated as they come, but it looks remarkably dangerous. The chases are expertly edited, providing a clear sense of geography and tension to the pursuit. And since there isn\u2019t a deep backstory to be found here, the film itself is happy to deliver a handful of enraged outbursts and crashes before wrapping things up quickly and efficiently. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The movie doesn\u2019t have much more to say to viewers than to cut strangers out there a bit of slack when they make a mistake or else you may find yourself in an even more unpleasant situation. It is silly and is far from fine art, but the stunts are great to watch, Crowe\u2019s demented turn is amusing and even the protagonists become more relatable and likable as they are stalked by the antagonist. Unhinged<\/em> isn\u2019t going to go down as a classic, but it will provide some thrills to those looking for a zippy little genre flick. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This film is opening Friday, August 21st at open movie theaters and presumably some drive-ins. Streaming options have yet to be announced but may follow in the coming weeks. While most know actor Russell Crowe over the years for his dramatic endeavors (that have earned him 3 Oscar nominations and 1 win for Gladiator), it […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":21114,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[198,697,3886,3901,9319,10706,17100,17453,19420,22825,23551,23552,23553,23554],"class_list":["post-21109","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-movie-reviews","tag-198","tag-action","tag-car-chase","tag-caren-pistorius","tag-horror","tag-jimmi-simpson","tag-road-rage","tag-russell-crowe","tag-suspense","tag-thriller","tag-unhinged","tag-unhinged-film-review","tag-unhinged-movie-review","tag-unhinged-review"],"blocksy_meta":{"styles_descriptor":{"styles":{"desktop":"","tablet":"","mobile":""},"google_fonts":[],"version":8}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21109","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=21109"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21109\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=21109"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=21109"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=21109"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}