Tom Cooper

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Evil-doer
Full Name	Tom Cooper (possibly)
Alias	The Stranger The Man
Origin	Unhinged
Occupation	Murderer
Powers / Skills	Planning Brute strength
Hobby	Killing people who he feels have wronged him. Intimidating Rachel and her son.
Goals	Ruin Rachel's day by killing almost everyone she knows to prove what having a bad is really like (succeeded). Kill Rachel and her son to have revenge on her for honking at him (all failed).
Crimes	Multiple murders Abuse Familicide Assault Breaking and entering Stalking Theft Arson Mayhem Trespassing Blackmail Torture
Type of Villain	Psychotic Stalker

“	Well, I don’t think that’s really true of any of us now, is it? But that’s where we are in this world today. We seem to have developed a fundamental inability to apologize to anyone for anything. I don’t even think you really know what a bad day is, but you’re gonna find out. You hear me miss? You’re gonna f-cking learn.	„
	~ Cooper about to show Rachel how to have a bad day.

Tom Cooper, also called the Stranger and the Man, is the main antagonist of the action thriller film Unhinged. An unstable man with road rage, Cooper is known for stalking and murdering those who get in his way. He follows Rachel everywhere to show her his idea of what a bad day is.

He was portrayed by Russell Crowe, who also portrayed Inspector Javert in Les Miserables, SID 6.7 in Virtuosity, Mayor Nicholas Hostetler in Broken City, Pearly Soames in Winter's Tale, Mr. Hyde in The Mummy and Ben Wade in the 2007 remake of 3:10 to Yuma.

Biography

During the middle of one night, Tom Cooper waits outside of the house of his ex-wife, until four in the morning, where he breaks down the front door with a hammer. As his ex-wife and partner awake to confront him, they are beaten to death, before Cooper sets the house to fire with gasoline and flees.

He encounters Rachel Flynn in traffic, who aggressively honks at him while stationary at a green light. As he catches up to her, he gives her a lecture on how to honk in a courteous manner, explains that he has been having a hard time, apologizes and demands an apology in return. Rachel refuses to apologize and Tom aggressively chases her, but Rachel escapes and drops off her son Kyle at school. He finds her at a gas station, steals her phone, and securely tapes her tablet under the passenger seat. Rachel immediately recognises him when looking outside, and a man accompanies her, telling him to back off. He runs the man over and is killed, before once again getting into an aggressive pursuit of Rachel, who once again loses her tail, but learns that Tom replaced her phone with his own.

Tom contacts Rachel and gives an ultimatum: someone close to her will die, and leaves the choice in her hands, or he will randomly pick. She pleads for her life to be taken, but Tom insists that is not an option. He questions about about her son Kyle, who she tries to lie about not being her son, but he rebuffs this claim as he has seen photos of the two together in her phone. As her daily planner indicated that she would be meeting up with her friend and divorce lawyer, Andy, he heads to the diner they planned to meet in. He finds Andy, and claims to be a friend of Rachel, telling him she is running late. He uses Andy's phone to call his own phone, which Rachel answers. Andy briefly speaks to Rachel before Tom takes over, and reveals himself. As Andy demands his phone back, he breaks his nose by shattering a mug, and Tom lectures Rachel about what a bad day is, claiming that this is her first lesson. He chokes Andy before stabbing him to death, and informs Rachel of this upon fleeing the diner.

Fearing he would target her son, Rachel picks up Kyle from school and flees. Tom's murder in the diner is broadcasted on TV, and Rachel's brother Fred sees this. To Fred's horror, Tom was in his house and had brutally beaten his fiance Mary. He kills her, has Fred tied to a chair and covers him in gasoline, and writes a letter for him to read out to Rachel over the phone. Suddenly, police arrive at the house and Tom is shot in the shoulder, but he sets Fred on fire to cover his escape. He uses Rachel's phone to trace her location, as her tablet is still in her car. Rachel and Kyle see a police car and try to get his attention, but Tom crashes into it before being crushed by a cement truck. The tablet runs out of battery, making Rachel's location invisible on the satellite map, giving them time to escape.

Tom tracks Rachel to her mother's old house, after a lengthily search. Kyle hides in a closet and Rachel ambushes Tom by crashing into his car, causing him to tumble. He beats Rachel and goes in the house to search for Kyle. Rachel finds him first, but is beaten once more and attempts to strangle Kyle to death. She manages to recollect herself as she pulls out a pair of scissors and stabs him in the eye, and then kicks it deeper, killing him. 

Personality

Tom Cooper is a deeply troubled unstable man who has been pushed to the point of insanity. It is implied that he has a deep hatred of lawyers, as evidenced by his conversation with and brutal murder of Andy. This suggests that he has been on the receiving end of an unfair divorce settlement, leading him to murder his ex-wife and her partner. In spite of this, he displays a slight degree of mercy, as he offers Rachel a chance to apologise in traffic. After she refuses to comply, Tom crosses the point of no return, and had no limits on who he would harm to teach her a lesson, including her son Kyle. He displays nihilism, as he holds no regards for consequences, as demonstrated when he murders Andy in a public diner, further cementing his belief that he has nothing to lose.

Quotes

“	You know what a courtesy tap is, young man? Sounds like this [taps horn] it's light, it’s friendly, just like you’re trying to get someone’s attention. I'm sure that’s what your mom meant.	„
	~ Tom Cooper

“	Tom: I’ve been kind of having a hard time lately. Rachel: Yeah well join the club. Tom: Well I'm sorry that you are, and I'm sorry that I might have made it worse. You accept my apology? Rachel: Sure, whatever. Tom: Perfect, if you could just do the same we could press reset.	„
	~ Tom and Rachel during their initial exchange.

“	I'm not here for your money, Fred. I'm here to make your sister realize that her words and actions have consequences.	„
	~ Tom Cooper as he holds Mary hostage.

“	Rachel has dismissed me as unworthy as f-ck, to ever walk this planet, and you know what Fred? I don't disagree. Every effort, every sacrifice I've ever made in my invisible life has been dismissed, and judged, ignored. I’ve been chewed up, used up and spat out. So I think f-ck it Fred, I'll make my contribution this way, through violence and retribution, ‘cause that’s all I got left.	„
	~ Tom Cooper

“	LOOK AT ME! Look at me, look at me. You see me? You're always going to see me. I'm always going to be inside your head, every time you think of your little boy, on what you could have done to save him.	„
	~ Tom Cooper taunting Rachel as he is about to attempt to kill Kyle.

Gallery

External Links

• Tom Cooper on the Pure Evil Wiki

Trivia

• Throughout the entire movie, while he did murder, Cooper never used a gun and used makeshift weapons to kill his victims.
• Instead of using his accent for his character, Russell Crowe gave Tom Cooper an American voice.
• For this role, Russell Crowe wore a fat suit rather than gaining weight for the role like he did in the middle 2000's. He was not comfortable actually gaining that much weight once again.
• It is not officially known if his name is Tom Cooper, as he only refers to himself as such when introducing himself to Andy. In addition, he is referred to as The Man in the credits sequence. Given his nihilism however, he had nothing to gain from lying, meaning there is a possibility he was telling the truth.
  • His absence of patronymic resonates with all those who feel "invisible" and disillusioned. After suffering several personal failures, he cut all social ties and lost his lucidity. He has the feeling that he is no longer up to the task and that he is being misunderstood. "In Unhinged, while the man is driving on a very hot day, someone starts honking behind him and he goes wild," explains producter Lisa Ellzey. "From then on, nothing can prevent him from being noticed and being heard". Derrick Borte adds: "There are a lot of angry people in the world, especially nowadays. I feel that aggressive driving is just one of the symptoms of a society where people are now unable to discuss their differences in a courteous and constructive manner."
• When Russell Crowe found out about the script, his first reaction was to say to himself, "That's out of the question! I'll never make a movie that scares me so much! And this character is abominable! But thinking about my reaction, I said to myself and why should you give up on such a project? On the contrary, it corresponds to what I am looking for - to challenge myself". For director Derrick Borte, the initial premise resonated very strongly. "It's the kind of scenario you can't let go before you get to the end." He explains. “Even though the plot focuses on the extreme consequences of aggressive driving, the film sensitively explores the fragile bonds that allow societies to remain united and the dark side that lies dormant in many human beings. has all known what can be called 'bads days' and the film shows how, in this context, our impulses can lead to the irreparable ".
• In the eyes of director Derrick Borte, The Man is comparable to the shark in Jaws: an unpredictable, swift and mind-blowing killer. This is why the character has no name. He is content to be the Man, a killer of incredible strength. "He's totally terrifying," Crowe says. “At the very beginning he appears from behind, we don't know where he is, and then he comes closer, hits his victim and disappears until next time. He doesn't let go of his prey. Rachel shouldn't have gone by her nerves on him - and even less that day. As for him, he does not care the consequences of his actions since he has already crossed the yellow line ". Indeed, when you get to know him, he is already at the bottom of the abyss. He's lost his job, his wife, and he's about to lose his house too - he's no longer able to empathize with anyone. He no longer believes in anything and he feels that everyone has abandoned him. From his point of view, he has nothing more to lose.