When "Insanity," starring Russell Crowe, was released in the United States, just as the new crown epidemic was raging and the theaters in the United States were almost closed, the film still swept more than 20 million US dollars in box office revenue. What can arouse the audience's enthusiasm is nothing more than the film's thriller theme-"Road Rage". This unreasonable terrorist act has become a social problem not only in the United States, but also in China and the world.
One morning, the beautician Rachel drove to work, and the story began. Rachel, who was unable to rush to the meeting place on time because of oversleeping + traffic jam on the highway, was complained by the client and fired. Her mood fell to the extreme. After driving down from the high speed, she saw the pickup truck in front of which the signal light turned from red to green without moving. She honked the horn anxiously and saw no response from the other party. She overtook and passed and posed towards the other party. A mocking gesture. Unexpectedly, the male driver driving the pickup truck rushed forward and asked her to apologize, but she refused. Since then, she has fallen into the hell of being chased by the pickup truck driver. As the plot progresses, the pickup truck driver's "road rage driving" gradually escalates, and the people around Rachel are also exposed to danger.
The film depicts the horror of road rage driving from the perspective of road ragers. The scene of the pickup truck chasing and killing is full of urgency. Even if it escapes smoothly, the sense of peace of mind will be fleeting, and fear will return at the next corner at any time.
In the process of driving, a little restlessness may be dragged into the abyss of eternal disaster. This kind of horror that is close to everyone's life has become the subject of many movies. In the process of watching "Insanity", I always felt familiar, and finally remembered the most classic road rage car chase movie "Duel" (also known as "Flywheel"), which was also Steven Spielberg's Featured debut.
While driving at high speed, the protagonist overtook the large trailer driving ahead, and was chased by the trailer all the way, but the trailer driver never revealed his true colors... The film uses very few characters on the scene + two cars to portray the perfect horror. Atmosphere, its technique was later quoted in many movies. For example, "Fatal Joke" starring Paul Walker in 2001 is also a standard movie for Road Fury.
Although they are all the same on the road, but a little change in the description method can create completely different horror works. "Mental Derangement" is based on the highway chase and cope with the common social problem of "road rage", and it suddenly becomes a modern, close-to-life horror. The situation in which Rachel was chased also improved the film’s realism.
In addition, what can magnify the horror scenes of this work infinitely is the superb acting of Russell Crowe, who plays the pickup truck driver. Don't look at him as fat as a ball, but he is very fierce when he is crazy, even if he is shot by a gun, he will not move at all. This special character is fully demonstrated by Russell Crowe with crazy interpretation. So, don't be fooled by appearances in your life. Sometimes the more gentle people are, the more terrible they are.
Speaking of Russell Crowe, he played the strongest gladiator in "Gladiator" (2000), which won the Oscar for Best Actor, and played a deep role in "A Beautiful Mind" (2001) the following year. A genius mathematician suffering from schizophrenia. From musicals like "Les Miserables" (2021) to comedies like "Tear Detective" (2016), the high level of acting skills does not need to be repeated.
So far, Russell Crowe has played a variety of roles. In general, his impression is that he is a positive role, but in this film, what he shows is different from any previous role. The image of an unreasonable villain. Although his acting career has reached its peak, this time it can also be said that he has opened up a new realm of his career.
Many works of "Crazy Highway Chase" have a clear purpose, and that is revenge. But in "Insanity", why is it necessary for a pickup truck driver to achieve that level? At first, he couldn't see the true meaning at all. Starting from trivial things, he stubbornly pursued Rachel, and the car will intervene in the mediation. It hit and flew, and even harmed people around Rachel...
It was not until TV news reported in the film that he was a marginalized person who was dismissed by an unscrupulous company after suffering a serious work injury and could not find a job. Differential attacks are still revenge in the final analysis. In this way, the theme of the film has also been slightly sublimated.
Rachel’s road rage ignited the pickup driver’s road rage, and his escalating madness and obsession gradually brought out Rachel’s aggressive side. In order to protect the beloved family, Rachel decides to fight against the villain, and cooperate with her son inside and out (really, her son is too weak), which is the only way for her to confront the crazy opposition party. , Instead of just running away.
But in the final analysis, the real good way is for everyone to maintain a good attitude when driving on the road.
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