Russell Crowe is a big man in a big truck, with a giant chip on his shoulder just waiting to be flicked off. Unhinged tells the story of how one tiny little action, can make for a very bad day. We've all experienced road rage in one way or another. Cut the wrong person off and you could be in a world of trouble. This movie explores a day in the life of one very angry man.
Tom Cooper played by Crowe, has some "difficulties" in his home life as everything goes up in smoke, for this broken and angry man. This sets the stage where the character Rachael Flynn (played by Carol Pistorius) and her teenaged son Kyle takes a fatal trip into road rage hell. The chance encounter with Cooper seems almost trivial at first glance. But make no mistake, little things can mean a lot to some people and sometimes, they can grow into something bigger than you can ever imagine. And that's exactly what happens here.
I won't reveal any spoilers, except to say that I was glued to my seat the entire time. There's no looking away as we can all imagine something like this happening in real life. The recent road rage killing of 6-year-old Aiden Leos in California, brings this issue to mind. Just one little incident, caused two people to do something that they will regret for the rest of their lives. This is why I think this movie is so important as a reminder to take care when driving on the nations roads.
Unhinged is a movie that gave me pause and made me think about all of the close calls I've been in as a passenger on long road trips. So the next time you're driving and someone does something strange, it might be better to take a deep breath and just let it pass. Watch this movie, it just might save a life someday.