Derailed Review, Trailer, Pic, Movie Poster

Derailed Review

Synopsis: Facing a life filled with draining family and work commitments, Charles (Clive Owen) is starting to wear out. On a commuter train, Charles meets Lucinda (Jennifer Aniston), an attractive businesswoman who takes an immediately liking to him. The attraction is intense, with Charles considering infidelity to release his frustrations.

Electing for a seedy motel, the two rent a room for their tryst, and as the evening progresses, a petty criminal (Vincent Cassel, "Ocean's Twelve") bursts in, beating Charles to a pulp and raping Lucinda. Consumed with guilt, Charles is confronted with even more hell when the thug begins to terrorize him, demanding large sums of money or he'll reveal Charles's moment of indiscretion to all.

The movie depends on the kind of coincidences and strokes of bad fortune that audiences will accept when a filmmaker is more adept than Sweden's Mikael Hafstrom, who is directing his first Hollywood production. What he gives is drawn-out, clunky and uneasily acted, as well as exasperating. Without getting specific, it's tough to imagine anyone being unable to predict the key plot twist here.