Under normal circumstances, this outrageous B-movie would come and go — without making much noise. However, Russell Crowe’s new endeavor, “Unhinged,” an exploitation film if there ever was one, has taken full advantage of the COVID-19 pandemic by promoting itself as the first feature film to be shown exclusively in movie theaters since the shutdown of theaters began in early March. “Unhinged” has Crowe hamming it up as Tom Cooper, a deranged drive who gets honked at by poor young mother Rachel (Caren Pistorius) only to go full-gonzo on her tuchus for the rest of the film. Yes, the entire premise is about road rage. “Unhinged” is such a ridiculous film, not only does it defy plausibility, but it manages to go places that no filmmaker or actor would ever dare want to go (and I don’t mean that as a compliment). That single honk drives Crowe’s Tom so insane that he not only decides to go after Rachel, BUT HER ENTIRE FAMILY. Crowe’s character must be an expert tailer because he seems to always show up at the exact right place, at the exact right moment. The destruction he leaves in his wake is so outrageously blown-up that it makes absolutely no sense the cops wouldn’t be able to track him down — Tom is actually already wanted for killing his ex-wife, her husband and lighting their house on fire the previous night. It all amounts to an unnecessarily gruesome, cruel and ugly film from director Derrick Borte (he already perpetrated “The Joneses” on us”). At least Crowe seems to be having a blast chewing up the scenery, hamming it up so to speak, with his darkly cartoonish villain, a vile character with no redeeming, human qualities that you almost wonder if he’s not just another version of the T-1000. [D]
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Hüller, known for her roles in “Anatomy of a Fall,” and “The Zone of Interest,” will take on the role of Wolfgang Herrndorf, who began recording his experiences after receiving a terminal brain tumor diagnosis.