Director:
Mikael Håfström
Cast:
Clive Owen .... Charles Schine
Jennifer Aniston .... Lucinda Harris
Vincent Cassel .... Philippe Laroche
Melissa George .... Deanna Schine
RZA .... Winston Boyko
Summary:
Charles and Lucinda are both married - but not to each other - and have a chance meeting on a train when Charles misses his usual departure time. They go to a hotel to get it on, but get more than they bargained for when they're robbed. After that, the robber(s) just won't leave him alone, and want more money, and more and more...
Review:
This is one of those predictable thrillers that tries to be clever but fails miserably. You know, like so many others before it? I like Clive Owen a lot, and it was interesting to see him make a departure from, say, King Arthur and/or Closer where he's the dominant type. For Derailed, he spends most of his time being scared and submissive. I appreciate his departure from the usual, because it shows that he's not afraid to do something different for a movie than what's expected. As for Jennifer Aniston, well, she didn't impress me much. I don't care much for her as it is, but she was good in Office Space, and she doesn't annoy me. She just isn't all that great, either.
Derailed had the plan of making your teeth clench in suspense and to provide an ending that will make your mind twist. Somewhere along the way - around the opening scene - I could see where things were going, and so I couldn't help but laugh more than I was supposed to when shit was going down. Plus, some of the things that were said by someone (don't want to spoil anything too much) made me laugh out loud. For real. Maybe those in the theater that didn't know what was going on thought I was a pure asshole, but so be it. I couldn't help myself. Sometimes the efforts at making us cringe or shocked are just laid on a little too thick to have our expectations get derailed. Ahh, I had to do it, folks!
Ultimately, the unimpressive ending isn't such a big deal as long as the movie entertains. I was entertained enough if I wasn't paying to watch it. But I was. I will admit that Derailed could have been a lot worse than it was, but when all was said and done it was nowhere near as good as it could have been.
GRADE: C-
Reviewed: 11/26/05