Unhinged

Director: Derrick Borte
Starring: Russell Crowe, Caren Pistorius, Gabriel Bateman, Jimmi Simpson, Austin P. McKenzie, Juliene Joyner
Running Time: 93 min.
Rating: R 

★★★ (out of ★★★★) 

If there's anything to be said about the very accurately titled road rage thriller Unhinged it's that you get exactly what's advertised. Approaching the film with hopes of gaining deep insight into the sociological implications of stress on the human psyche or underlying causes of vehicular assault in America would be a mistake. This is a B-level potboiler. Plain and simple. And when viewed through that lens, director Derrick Borte delivers a tight, suspenseful 90 minutes that doesn't reach too far or try to be something it isn't. Aiming higher would assuredly result in less, even as the story's basic premise calls to mind superior efforts like Steven Spielberg's Duel or Joel Schumacher's Falling Down. In terms of quality and content, it shares little with either, as much of the action doesn't take place on the road and it's not all that interested in providing social commentary or exploring the antagonist's state of mind. But in this case it's fine since that just isn't what we're here for. 

The events that occur may be wildly implausible, but they're not exactly silly. Okay, maybe they are, but it's good enough for viewers to resist mocking the entire scenario and at least respect that the movie never breaks from its reckless abandon to wink at us. Borte really plays it straight, relishing in this lack of humor as he escalates the violence to uncomfortable levels. On its surface, the plot's absurd, tracking a stone cold killer on his rampage to teach an unlucky mororist what a "bad day" really feels like. He also might also have the best luck of any murderer since Ted Bundy at evading law enforcement, disposing of victims left and right in broad, busy daylight while driving his easily identifiable vehicle through a crowded city. And yet, this somehow works, mainly because of Russell Crowe, who we just don't see in sadistic, villainous roles like this nearly enough. 

Mentally disturbed and existing on the fringes of life, Tom Cooper (Crowe) is in a precarious state. Laid off from his job and going through a divorce within the past year, he's about ready to snap. And he does, breaking into the home of his ex-wife and beating her boyfriend with a hammer before setting the residence ablaze, driving away into the night as it explodes. Meanwhile, newly divorced single mother Rachel Flynn (Caren Pistorius) has been struggling through some personal problems herself, battling her ex-husband over money while trying to take care of their teen son Kyle (Gabriel Bateman). Already under immense pressure and seeking advice from friend and divorce lawyer, Andy (Jimmi Simpson), she's dropping Kyle off at school and running late to work when she honks at a pickup truck stopped at a green light. 

The truck's driver is Tom, who catches up to Rachel, rolling down the window and demanding an apology for honking him, insisting he deserved a "courtesy tap" first. She refuses, leading to a tense exchange and him following her on the road and into a gas station, where she realizes he's just not going to let this go. So begins his murderous rampage, threatening everyone near and close to Rachel while collecting additional victims along the way. With cops on his trail, he has Rachel in his crosshairs, and she'll have to use all her strength and resourcefulness to escape him.     

Unlike Michael Douglas' D-Fens character in Falling Down, Tom starts the film as a complete psychopath and descends from there. Whatever events or circumstances led to his violent, agressive actions were well underway before he was introduced on screen so any hopes of humanizing the guy are pretty much dashed in the opening scene when he commits the first atrocious crime. The film proudly announces what it will be right off the bat and doesn't waver throughout, even while being careful enough not to go too far into the weeds regarding his mental stability, or lack thereof. 

While they show Tom popping prescription meds and he's referred to as "ill" in both the descriptions for the picture and in passing dialogue, you have to wonder the reasoning behind that disclosure. Since mental health is a sensitive topic, you'd figure the last thing filmmakers would want to imply is that just anyone with these issues could do this. What's likelier is that this is screenwriter Carl Ellsworth's sole attempt at giving the character some degree of nuance despite it not being particularly necessary. Regardless, his horrific actions speak loudest, as an almost unrecognizably heavier Crowe adopts a menacing southern drawl while pausing to fiercely lecture his intended victims about the unfair hand he's been dealt. 

Alternating between intensely calm soliloquies and explosive fits of rage, Crowe's best scene comes in a diner opposite the great Jimmi Simpson as Rachel's attorney. With Tom having already absconded with her cell phone and fully manipulating his way into her circle of friends and family, Simpson's lawyer knowing something's off with this guy, but not enough to call him out. Crowe perfects Tom's deflections and lies to a hilt so by the time Simpson's character realizes the extent of what's happened, it's too late.

It would be easy to pick every piece of this apart, especially the incredibly slow police response when it comes to tracking a pyromanical vehicular killer so visible that the "hiding" part of hiding in plain sight barely seems applicable. Then again, had the script involved too much law enforcement, it could easily lead to a Saw-like scenario where we're watching a crime procedural instead of the thriller it should be. So it's probably the right call keeping Crowe front and center, even if the audience has to kind of check their brain at the door regarding how far this goes.  

If Crowe steamrolling through everyone seems on brand for the film, its most believable aspect is South African actress Caren Pistorius' performance as Rachel, naturally and credibly reacting to this trauma as you'd envision a normal, overly stressed single mother would, conveying a fear and panic that lends even more tension to the proceedings. Doing far more than merely holding her own, Pistorius wrings genuine pathos out of the situation's most ludicrous developments, desperately conveying the conflicted fight or flight response you'd associate with someone experiencing this. 

Allowing a suspension of disbelief that may not have been possible with a more recognizable name in the role, casting the right protagonist opposite Crowe only enhances everything he does, making sure all the heat stays on him. And he brings plenty of it, taking us on a wild ride where we're fully invested in seeing this guy really get his in the end. When that moment comes, it's surprisingly cathartic, and maybe the surest sign that everyone involved with Unhinged fully understood the assignment. By knowing what had to be accomplished and achieving it, the film clears a low bar, executing an admittedly familar formula in skillful, exciting ways.          

The Joneses

Director: Derrick Borte
Starring: Demi Moore, David Duchovny, Amber Heard, Ben Hollingsworth, Gary Cole, Lauren Hutton, Glenne Headly
Running Time: 96 min.
Rating: R

★★★ (out of ★★★★)

The Joneses is the most frustrating kind of good movie to review because it brushes so closely with greatness, only to fall short due to a couple of dumb, easily correctable problems. Calling its central premise inspired or original is an understatement. So much so that the execution could have been completely squandered and the finished product would have still probably turned out okay. It isn't squandered, but there's that feeling that all the potential wasn't realized and there was something really special in there struggling to break through. With a concept like this I question how any film could fully deliver on it without at least some degree of disappointment. For the first hour it looks like it will, but writer/director Derrick Borte sets the bar a little too high for himself and struggles at times to find the right tone before unloading a rushed ending completely inappropriate for the film.

Some movies can get away with a lackluster ending but this can't since all the themes and ideas seem to build toward the story's resolution.  But in all fairness to Borte, it's no easy task getting a high concept like this exactly where it needs to go and he does a serviceable job.  If nothing else, the film deserved more attention than it got during its brief, invisible run in theaters and should be wildly applauded for actually introducing an original idea we haven't seen on screen before. But as impressive as certain ideas can look on paper, following through with them all the way is a different matter altogether.

It helps to know as little as possible about the premise going in but the trailers and commercials give it away because they didn't really have a choice. Without coming clean with its concept, there's nothing to sell the movie on other than its stars, a cruel irony considering this is all about selling. But for the first fifteen minutes we are cleverly left in the dark when Steve Jones (David Duchovny) and his youthful looking wife, Kate (Demi Moore) move into an upper-middle class (i.e. rich) suburban neighborhood with their two high school aged kids, Jennifer (Amber Heard) and Mick (Ben Hollingsworth). They look like one of those impossibly perfect, great looking families that stepped out of a fancy home magazine, with a residence to match. And for good reason. That's basically what they are. The big secret is that they're a fake family being paid by a stealth marketing company to push new products in the neighborhood. Logically, if they're liked, everyone will want to to own what they have. They're selling themselves as much as they are the products with their manager, KC (Lauren Hutton) tracking the progress. On her sixth husband, the driven Kate is the veteran of the "unit" and on her first "head of household" assignment is supervising Steve, a green as grass rookie learning the ropes, but it gets complicated when their working arrangement evolves into something more and their "kids" begin to emotionally unravel from pretending to be what they're not. The Joneses also have to deal with the consequences of the bonds they've formed with those in the neighborhood, real or fake as they may be.

The expression "Keeping up with the Joneses" could seem dated to some, but the idea behind it definitely isn't. Hearing the title of the movie I couldn't help but laugh at the fact that one of my favorite sayings was being adapted into a feature film as I've been known to use it every time it seems applicable, which is a lot more often than you'd think.  Knowing the premise going in I was still impressed with how it was slowly and mysteriously introduced so that like the neighbors we're not initially sure what to make of these Joneses or what their deal is. When we do is when the movie really comes alive in its first sixty minutes, fully exploiting all the possibilities and implications of their deception. An important touch is that the Joneses are actually good salespeople because they don't overdo it and the film already has a built-in excuse for product placement, which Borte's script doesn't abuse by shoving it down our throats. In this sense the film, while completely original in conceit, does have definite thematic shadings of The Truman Show and Pleasantville in its critique of American materialism and consumerism.

The casting is so spot-on it's scary, with the choices in actors serving the themes exceptionally well. Who wouldn't buy a golf club David Duchovny recommended? Who could have possibly been a better choice to play Kate than Demi Moore, an actress who's basically sold to us as an anti-aging commodity? And is there a high school girl who wouldn't want look, dress like and BE Amber Heard? Moore gives her best performance in ages as the ambitious sales leader, in addition to looking as young as she has in years, which isn't an entirely irrelevant point when you consider the nature of her role. Duchovny brings the sly charm in what's kind of a watered down version of his Hank Moody character on Californication, making his best case so far for big screen leading man status.  In smaller but still suitably developed roles, the increasingly prolific Heard continues her streak of nailing (literally in this case) any supporting part she's given and newcomer Hollingsworth effectively sketches out the teen poser harboring a secret of his own. And since they're both supposed to be adults playing teenagers, we now finally have a movie with a suitable excuse for casting adults as teenagers.

The movie attempts to go to dark places the second act requires even if it feels a little out of step with the sitcom-style feel that's present throughout. The darkest center around married couple, Summer and Larry (Glenne Headly and Gary Cole), next-door neighbors struggling to keep up with Joneses. Headley and Cole are two of the more underrated character actors working today so it's no surprise they turn mere sketches into real people worth caring about and fill in the blanks of their slightly underwritten roles, alternating seamlessly between the comedy and drama. When the wheels start to fly off the Joneses perfect fake life Borte seems to want to turn this into a scathing commentary carrying an impact similar to more dramatic entries in suburban dysfunction like American Beauty or the more recent Revolutionary Road. That's when he starts losing his way and grasp on tone before wimping out with an abrupt, unsatisfying finish that damages the film's overall credibility. The worst thing he could have done with a premise this strong was attempt to spell everything out for us, which he does with an embarrassing soapbox-style speech that comes abruptly out of left field to wrap things up in a conventional Hollywood way. He also does the second worst thing in giving far too much emphasis to the romantic angle between the two leads. The idea that this sales team family are co-workers under the same roof is intriguing and Moore and Duchovny have chemistry, but her character is such a humorless ice queen it's difficult to grasp what Steve sees in her (well, at least from a personality standpoint). This sub-plot that should be downplayed in favor of the darker elements of the script instead takes center stage at the worst possible time, making the film feel almost like a fluffy romantic comedy.

I'll concede to some bias here since dark, suburban social commentaries are among my favorite types of pictures but Borte at least had the concept for a real winner in his hands, only to let it slip through his fingers. With a firm command over the look of sprawling, sunny suburbia he's a better director than writer, which isn't to say he's a bad writer because it takes a lot of talent to even come up with an idea like this, much less push it as far as he does. But the last thing that should be accompanying this film this ambitious at its conclusion is a forgettable feeling. With a final act that reeks of studio interference, I wouldn't mind seeing a hidden director's cut or even a full-blown remake that follows its dark path to the ending its premise promises. Despite an admirable effort to do something different, The Joneses tries to please everybody, and ironically becomes guilty of engaging in some of the same tactics it's sending up.