Derailed :: Wessex Scene Online

Derailed

31st March 2006
Caroline Godfrey

About this film

Title	Derailed (2005/I)
Director	Mikael Håfström
Release Date	3 February 2006
Certificate
Genres	Drama, Thriller
Our Rating	2.0/5.0

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More by Caroline Godfrey

May 06 - Failure to Launch
Dec 05 - Battle In Heaven

Derailed Trailer

For anybody who has already seen Fatal Attraction or Unfaithful, the general pattern of Derailed is conspicuously unsurprising.

Who would have thought that when businessman Charles Schine (Owen) embarks on an affair with sophisticated financial consultant Lucinda Harris (Aniston), his whole life would be ‘derailed’ from the predictable path trodden by a comfortable American family? In fact, this film, the first English speaking production by Swedish director Mikael Håfström, is not only rather conventional but at times grimly unpleasant.

In the first half of the film, Charles and Lucinda are interrupted mid tryst and brutally attacked by a psychotic but cunning Frenchman (Cassel), only for Charles to become the victim of his elaborate plans for extortion. They were obviously unlucky, but it’s hard to expend much sympathy on man who is willing to risk a seemingly happy family life for the gratification of a sordid affair.

The plot machinations that combine to back Charles into the tightest of corners, a pile up of murder, deceit and theft, forces the viewer to feel distinctly depressed about the human race. Can such an unarguably nasty film be said to have any redeeming features? There is initially enough suspense to sustain an audience’s attention and although it doesn’t merit such an endearing label as ‘entertaining’, Derailed is at least watchable.

Unfortunately by its rather silly denouement, the plot seems to have got over-excited by its own possibilities creating a series of final scenes that are distinctly unbelievable and unsatisfying in their complete lack of reference to the family that Charles has so dishonourably deceived. Clearly Jennifer Aniston was looking for a film that would contrast with her more familiar role as the star of romantic comedies such as the recent Rumour Has It. Unfortunately this is not likely to be a hit with either the critics or the box office but rent it on DVD if you have 107 spare minutes to indulge in a glut of sex, lies and unadulterated ugliness. I think it’s fair to say that by the conclusion of Derailed most viewers would kill for a light-hearted quip from Rachel Green.