Derailed has been touted as the big
screen reinvention of Jennifer Aniston, into something other than
everyone’s favorite Friend.
Point of fact, when I caught the film in
Boston, the American press were going nuts over her portrayal of
Lucinda, and saying what an incredible breakthrough it was. Ummmm…. No,
not really.
If you want to see her in something different, make sure
and catch The Good Girl, but instead, what you get, is the closest
thing to a genre change for her, and proof that she can play the
meatier roles when they come her way, but you still can’t help but see
the adorable Rachel...
The always great Clive Owen plays Charles Schine, a man with a
loving wife Deanna (Melissa George), and a young daughter with chronic
diabetes, in desperate need of another Kidney transplant. After kind
stranger, Lucinda (Aniston), takes pity on Charles by paying his train
fare for him on his way to work, an instant attraction begins between
the two. Cautiously feeling each other out over first an innocent
lunch, and then a not so innocent dinner, the two soon find themselves
in a seedy hotel room, and at the point when things are about to get
interesting, a sadistic French thief, LaRoche (Vincent Cassel) busts
into the room brandishing a gun, and demanding money.
Charles attempts
to defend Lucinda, but after being pistol whipped, he is forced to
watch as the thug rapes Lucinda repeatedly over the course of several
hours.
After the brutal event, Lucinda begs Charles not to phone the
police – their respective marriages would be over, their children would
not forgive them – and in a moment of weakness, Charles agrees. But
when his cell phone rings a few days later, and there is a familiar
voice on the other end extorting money that he simply can’t afford,
Charles must figure out a way to get rid of his problem permanently.
Derailed is, for the most part, a tight thriller that keeps a fast
pace, and features some top performances throughout. There are a few
issues with the final act of the film that definitely could have used a
bit of chop in order to get to the point, but it’s still a very
enjoyable film (although the aforementioned attack scene is quite a
disturbing segment), and it serves it’s purpose in the thrills
department.
Clive Owen plays the part of Charles with just the right
key of despair, and as a result, his affair with Lucinda is played as
not necessarily sexual in nature, but more one of release from his
situation. Charles loves his wife and it’s made quite obvious that it
is the case, but when he’s at home, his problems are always there and
as such, Deanna is by default always a part of the problem.
Vincent
Cassel is as menacing as you can get in the role of LaRoche…. Just
chilling are the delivery of his lines, and the stark contrast between his
gritty, violent world, and that of his prey just makes it all the more
unsettling.
Jennifer Aniston manages to infuse the right amount of
feminine charm into the role, and to be perfectly fair, this is the
greatest change of pace for her since The Good Girl, but it’s not an
amazing role for her. She handles her own against Owen and Cassel,
but in the end, it’s probably not the departure that you’ve been
hearing about. The RZA and Xzibit also feature in supporting roles,
but out of the two, RZA (surprisingly) shows some true acting chops as
Winston, who tries to help Charles out of his problems.
At the end of it all, Derailed is a tight thriller that at times
reaches some truly original moments, but ultimately will remind you of
most other films of it’s type. Of course, whether that’s a bad thing or
not is up to the viewer, but I personally had a good time with it.
