Derailed Review
by [email protected] (dnb AT dca DOT net)November 17th, 2005
DERAILED
A film review by David N. Butterworth
Copyright 2005 David N. Butterworth
**1/2 (out of ****)
"Deceived." "Deranged." "Denied." And now "Derailed."
It's the latest in a long line of punchy, economically-titled thrillers beginning with the letter D, this one so named because of a pivotal encounter that takes place between two strangers on a Chicago-bound train. That's appropriate, because this tense extra-marital affair from Swedish director Mikael Håfström bears more than a passing nod to those Hitchcockian thrillers of old.
The protagonists in "Derailed" are Charles Schine, an advertising exec played by Clive Owen ("Closer"), and Jennifer Aniston's well-groomed lawyer Lucinda Harris. Charles is running late to work one day and forgets to buy a ticket before boarding the train. When the ticket collector comes to call, Charles realizes his wife has cleaned him out, wallet-wise. That's when Lucinda, seated a few rows further up the train with her shapely, stockinged legs spilling out into the aisle, speaks up, offering to pay the nine dollars. Charles switches seats to thank her and the two strike up the first of several friendly conversations (Charles winds up taking the same slightly later train the next day too).
One might think little of this--you have to be civil to your fellow passengers, after all, and especially grateful to one who so generously purchased your train ticket--but earlier that day Charles's daughter made the snide comment that she remembered when her parents used to kiss each other goodbye in the morning, an observation that clearly denotes not all to be well in the Schine household. Not surprisingly it isn't long before Charles and Lucinda are cruising the windy city streets in a taxicab looking for a suitable hotel and the scene is set for a sexy, romantic tryst between two good-looking people. Until Vincent Cassel ("Irréversible") busts in on the just shy of adulterous couple, beats Charles senseless and then does much worse to Lucinda.
This is when the untimely ripped lovebirds make the classic movie mistake: they decide not to notify the authorities. When has that ever been a smart decision? It's one that propels them into an ever- deepening world of lies, deceit, and betrayal. And blackmail at the hands of a psychotic Frenchman.
Stuart ("Collateral") Beattie's script offers twists and turns and red herrings a plenty, as well as some redundancy--the Schine's daughter Amy, for example, is a diabetic who requires the services of her very own portable dialysis machine (to establish the fact that the couple has had to squirrel away a lot of money now ripe for the taking?). Likewise Håfström's direction is serviceable but nothing special. What keeps us in the game is watching Owen and Aniston interact and interrelate. Theirs is an easy affinity; they generate heat as well as chemistry and are well matched in terms of seductive smarts. Cassel is suitably creepy if a little over the top and there are some nice supporting roles, including Wu-Tang Clan's RZA ("Coffee and Cigarettes") as a mailroom orderly who hangs around Charles's office.
Hitchcock did this sort of thing much, much better of course. But "Derailed"'s strangers on a train are still worth your nine bucks or so.
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David N. Butterworth
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Originally posted in the rec.arts.movies.reviews newsgroup. Copyright belongs to original author unless otherwise stated. We take no responsibilities nor do we endorse the contents of this review.
