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Derailed

2005, Movie, R, 110 mins

Derailed: Review

DERAILED
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A regular Joe makes one false move and then watches helplessly as its ever-escalating consequences send his life spiraling into a whirlpool of betrayal and violence in Swedish director Mikael Håfström's English-language debut, which pivots on the kind of big twist that thriller fans will see coming when there's still plenty of time to get off the tracks. Would-be adulterous lovers Charles Schine (Clive Owen) and Lucinda Harris (Jennifer Aniston), who crossed paths on a commuter train, are about to embark on a guilty tryst at a run-down Chicago motel when a gun-toting sociopath (Vincent Cassel) bursts in, pistol-whips Charles and brutally rapes Lucinda before vanishing with their valuables. Charles wants to call the police, Lucinda refuses: If her wealthy husband finds out what happened, he'll divorce her and take their child. Against his better judgment, Charles agrees to say nothing and, all things considered, he's in no position to weather a marital storm, either. He and his harried wife, Deanna (Melissa George), are already stretched to their emotional and financial limits by the stress of caring for their severely diabetic daughter, Amy (Addison Timlin). So Charles says he was mugged and prepares to forget the whole sordid incident when the phone rings and his sneering assailant, Laroche, is on the line demanding a $10,000 "loan." Charles "borrows" the cash from his firm's expense account, delivers it to Laroche and his equally thuggish associate, Dexter (Xzibit), and gets roughed up some more for his trouble. A month later, Laroche calls again: This time he wants $100,000; if Charles pays, he and Deanna will have nothing with which to pay for Amy's expensive experimental medications. And to make Charles' horror complete, Laroche is calling from his own home, where he's beguiled Deanna and Amy with his oh-so continental blandishments. Charles' lawyer says he can do nothing if Lucinda won't come forward. The still-traumatized Lucinda continues to refuse, so Charles takes matters into his own hands. The perky Aniston (of TV's Friends and numerous forgettable romantic comedies) is both unflatteringly photographed and utterly unconvincing in the pivotal role of Lucinda, and overall the film has the oddly disconnected quality of '70s Euro-thrillers whose international casts spoke different languages on the set and were dubbed into conformity. Its saving grace is Cassel, who brings a certain insinuatingly hammy brio to the reprehensible Laroche, but even his reptilian charms wear thin before everything is wrapped up. leave a comment --Maitland McDonagh
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