The movie "Derailed" takes place in Chicago and concerns an adulterous one-night stand between the two leading characters played by Jennifer Aniston and Clive Owen. On this one night in the hotel room, a man breaks in and assaults them. He takes their wallets and uses their dalliances to extort money from them. What follows is what can only be described as an abysmal, cinematic failure. I would put the phrase "of epic proportions" in that sentence, but there is nothing epic or awe-inspiring about this movie.
"Derailed" is based on a novel by James Speigel, and it should have stayed a novel. In that form, I could see the twists and turns playing out rather cleverly through each turn of the page. But in cinematic form, the twists seem to exist for the sole purpose of making the audience feel stupid. I don't have a problem with twists, but when it is a film's only offering, I wind up just saying to myself "Why bother?" Once the twist is revealed, everything that follows crosses the line of plausibility in every way. Actually, even before the twist there is a distinct aura of impossibility from the very first frame. The characters are unbelievable. Their choices, in no way mirror what an actual person would do in similar circumstances. The characters all carefully fall into specific cliches. The gang member henchman, the evil "Frenchman," the morally conflicted "Everyman," the saccharine sweet, does-nothing-wrong dying daughter, and the take-no-prisoners business woman.
All of these uninspired characters are played even more uninspiringly by a lackluster cast. No one seems to show any real emotion. The worst of the cast is Jennifer Aniston. I became a fan of hers after her convincing portrayal of Justine, an unhappily married woman working a dead-end job in "The Good Girl" who must come to the realization that her miserable life is as good as it gets. I was very disappointed with her in this film. The role has meat to it, but she refused to chew it. Her role in the film requires her to show a serious depth of emotion, and she is unable to even pull off a smile without it seeming forced.
Clive Owen does what he can with what he's been given but still seems rather directionless in his portrayal of a morally conflicted businessman. Directionless. That's where Mikael Hafstrom comes in. He is a Swedish filmmaker making his directorial debut here. The performances of the cast are directly linked to this man's failure to inspire. Besides the performances, he is also unable to bring any suspense or even a hint of originality to this picture. Maybe he had no real love for the project. Maybe he is a good director, and we'll still get a chance to see some good movies from him in the future. Possible. But I won't be there. Once the film was over, once the twists were done twisting, I felt like it was I who had been twisted. Twisted and used by a talentless director and a script custom made to make the audience feel inferior and to further the screenwriter's ego.
