Unhinged

Caren Pistorius stars in a scene from the movie "Unhinged." The Catholic News Service classification is O -- morally offensive. The Motion Picture Association rating is R -- restricted. Under 17 requires accompanying parent or adult guardian. (CNS photo/Skip Bolden, Solstice Studios)

Russell Crowe goes rogue in this brutal road rage thriller, playing a crazed Los Angeles SUV driver who sets out to ruin the life of a fellow motorist (Caren Pistorius) who got testy with him when he failed to notice that a traffic light had turned green. Having already slain his ex-wife with an ax (presumably to show the audience exactly what he is capable of), he steals his new victim’s cellphone and uses the information on it to target her best friend (Jimmi Simpson), brother (Austin P. McKenzie) and young son (Gabriel Bateman). Neither Crowe’s killer nor his prey is more than a type and the warnings about rising social tension in screenwriter Carl Ellsworth’s script are as hollow as they are pompous. What we’re left with, under Derrick Borte’s direction, is a bloody killing spree meant to justify retaliation in kind. Gruesome gory violence, a few uses of profanity, about a dozen milder oaths, frequent rough and crude language, an obscene gesture. The Catholic News Service classification is O — morally offensive. The Motion Picture Association rating is R — restricted. Under 17 requires accompanying parent or adult guardian.

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