Archive for December, 2005

If there was ever a night when Maija regretted vetoeing my choice in a movie, last night was the night. It’s not that Derailed was a bad movie, but it wasn’t really what Maija was expecting. She thought the idea of a man and woman meeting on a train, and suddenly falling in love and ending up in bed was a romantic tale. I guess she missed the part of the synopsis where a crook breaks in on their lovemaking and sends their lives into a downward spiral. Hehe, ahh well, Aeon Flux wouldn’t have exactly fit the bill either, but it wouldn’t have been as jarring or intense.

So, Derailed. Starring Clive Oven (Sin City, Closer, King Arthur, The BMW Films) as Charles Shine, who works for a marketing firm. He’s married to Deanna, a school teacher, played by Aussie actress Melissa George (The Amityville Horror, Lauren Reed from Alias, Down with Love. She reminded me of Estella Warren.) They have a daughter with type A diabetes, around which some of the plot thickening occurs.

Charles and Deanna are bored in their marriage, and one day on the train a pretty lady (Jennifer Aniston) offers to pay for his ticket. He strikes up a conversation with her, and they begin to chat regularly on their ride in to work. After a very short while they tell some lies to their loved-ones, and head for a hotel. Right when the fun is starting, an armed robber bursts through the door of the room and demands their money. From here on, everything goes kinda crazy.

The villain is played by Vincent Cassel, the French actor who played master thief François Toulour in Ocean’s Twelve.

I’ve read a lot of poor reviews for this movie, and to be honest I’m not really sure it deserved them. The acting was convincing throughout, the characters were as dynamic as you wanted them to be and the movie flowed with a great pace and energy. It’s a very taught, suspensful film that really drew me into the action. There is an unsettling rape scene, after which we almost left the theatre, but the story is told in such a way that you really do want to stay and see justice done in the end. There were a few technical glitches, such as the voice synch being completely off for a few seconds, but it’s still worth a watch.

I give it a 4/5 for convincing characters, and a very intense thrillride. Sensitive viewers may wish to stay away from it due to the rape scene, however without spoiling the plot of the movie, near the end you will lose your remorse for the victim, and your perspective on that scene will be very different.