>>REVIEW
DERAILED
STARRING Clive Owen, Jennifer Aniston and Vincent Cassel
DIRECTED BY Mikael Häfström
Opens Friday, November 11
Check listings
Why do they give movies names that invite reviewers to create crafty puns on them? Derailed for instance – "new thriller goes off the rails," "film a train ride to banality," or something like that.
Which is exactly what happens to Derailed, a film that seduces viewers with an interesting premise and becomes crushed under tired mystery genre conventions. What could have been a Fatal Attraction (come to think of it, that one isn’t great, either) turns into that lame-ass Domestic Disturbance movie that had John Travolta and Vince Vaughn battle as mortal enemies (really, it does exist).
Charles (Clive Owen) is a successful ad executive whose daily train ride to work and sick daughter have created a drain on his marriage and home life, making him a tired suburbanite bore. Until one day, when he meets Lucinda (Jennifer Aniston) on the train and is instantly smitten – they end up at the bar, pound a few and check into a seedy motel. At this point, director Mikael Hafstrom appears to be crafting a skilful drama on the realities of an affair – the innuendo, the sneakiness. Owen and Aniston fit their parts, composed to look like another pair of the working masses, and to their credit both deliver strong performances, especially in light of the preposterousness to follow.
Just as Aniston is about to go down on Owen, a mugger enters their room, smashes his face and rapes her. They part ways, happy to forget what might have been, until a few days later when the mugger, Philippe (played with evil greasy delight by Vincent Cassel) calls Owen to extort money from him. Owen complies, worried that his wife will find out about his infidelities. Not to mention that Philipe shows up with Dexter (Xzibit) and smacks him around again. When the mugger demands much more money than the amorous victim can afford, Charles enlists his co-worker and friend Winston (The RZA, – the best thing about the movie) to get him off his back.
Then things get ridiculous. I won’t ruin the details for you, suffice it to say that a number of twists and abrupt moral changes of heart occur that stretch the film beyond anything that can hold your attention. Hollywood has been trying to make this formula work for years (consider John Schlesinger’s preposterous Pacific Heights and I think you’ll agree) without any success. Please stop. |
Copyright ©2005 FFWD. All rights reserved.