Derailed (2005 film)

Derailed
Theatrical poster
Directed by	Mikael Håfström
Produced by	Lorenzo di Bonaventura
Written by	Stuart Beattie (screenplay) James Siegel (novel)
Starring	Clive Owen Vincent Cassel Melissa George Giancarlo Esposito Addison Timlin Jennifer Aniston Xzibit RZA
Music by	Ed Shearmur
Cinematography	Peter Biziou
Editing by	Peter Boyle
Distributed by	The Weinstein Company (U.S.) Buena Vista International (Non-U.S.)
Release date(s)	November 11, 2005 (2005-11-11)
Running time	106 minutes 113 minutes (Unrated)
Country	United Kingdom United States
Language	English
Budget	$22 million
Box office	$57,479,076 $27,51,000 (US DVD Home Video)

Derailed is a 2005 British-American thriller film based on the novel of the same name by James Siegel. The film is directed by Mikael Håfström and stars Clive Owen, Jennifer Aniston, Vincent Cassel, Melissa George, Addison Timlin, Giancarlo Esposito, RZA and Xzibit. This film was the first to be distributed by The Weinstein Company in the United States. The film is set in Chicago.

Plot

Charles Schine (Clive Owen), is a Chicago advertising executive, whose tale is being written down in a notebook by an unidentified man in a prison cell. Flashback several months, and we see Charles at home with his wife and teenage daughter. Charles's marriage is deteriorating, and his daughter suffers from diabetes, requiring expensive medication not covered by insurance.

On a commuter train, Charles encounters an alluring woman named Lucinda Harris (Jennifer Aniston). She is also married, has a daughter, and a high-powered job as a financial adviser. A mutual attraction develops, and the two begin meeting more frequently. Ultimately, they decide to consummate their affair and wind up in a seedy hotel. An armed man—later identified as Philippe LaRoche (Vincent Cassel)—bursts into the hotel room, beats Charles and brutally rapes Lucinda. Charles and Lucinda agree not to report the crime, as they do not want their spouses to learn of the affair. Charles also feels guilty for failing to prevent the rape of Lucinda. Shortly after the incident, Charles is blackmailed by LaRoche, who threatens to kill Charles's family if he doesn't pay $20,000, which Charles promptly pays (after turning down an offer of cash from Lucinda). But a month later, the attacker calls again, this time demanding $100,000—and calling from Charles's house. Charles rushes home to find LaRoche visiting with his wife Deanna (Melissa George) and daughter Amy (Addison Timlin), posing as a business associate.

Winston Boyko (RZA) is an ex-con who works in the mailroom of the ad agency; he admits to killing a man while in prison. Charles tells Winston about LaRoche and asks for advice. Winston offers to scare LaRoche away in return for 10% ($10,000) of LaRoche's demand. Charles embezzles the $10,000 from his employer. Winston gives Charles a shank (make-shift knife) he used in prison. However, LaRoche is a step ahead, and shoots Winston dead through the window in his car.

Charles is questioned by detective Franklin Church (Giancarlo Esposito) about Winston's murder. Later, Charles receives a call from LaRoche: He has Lucinda at gunpoint, and will kill her and his family if Charles doesn't bring the $100,000 immediately. Charles takes the money from an account meant specifically for his daughter's medical treatment; the payoff complete, he and Lucinda say a tortured goodbye. Later that night, Charles confesses to his wife that he spent the money for Amy's medical treatment, money they had been saving for seven years. Although he is not shown confessing the affair, it is suggested that he does when he says, "I'll tell you everything. And it's not just about the money."

Before meeting with Detective Church to tell the whole story, Charles decides he has to let Lucinda know. He stops by her office, but when he asks for Lucinda, the receptionist points to a black woman who is the actual Lucinda Harris. The woman whom Charles met on the train is really Jane, a temporary employee, who was impersonating Lucinda Harris. Charles realizes Jane was in on the scam. He tracks her to the train station and sees her kissing LaRoche.

Charles, determined to retrieve his stolen $100,000, follows Jane's moves and sees that she has suckered another unsuspecting businessman on the train. Charles returns to the hotel where Jane, LaRoche, and their partner Dexter (Xzibit) are setting up their new mark. Jane and the businessman go inside the room; Charles waits for LaRoche to approach that room and knocks him unconscious before he enters. Charles breaks in with an unconscious LaRoche in his hands; he demands the return of his money. A gunfight ensues when the mark tries to take the gun from Charles, producing a wild shot that hits Jane, then everyone else except Charles gets shot. (After the melee Charles stands and watches "the false Lucinda" look confused and then die.) Then Charles wipes his prints from the guns and slips away. As he's leaving, he reclaims his briefcase from the hotel's safe. It still contains his $100,000.

Charles is arrested for embezzling the $10,000 that he paid Winston before his murder and is sentenced to six months of community service teaching at a prison. During one of his classes, Charles starts to go through the homework and chooses a blue booklet with "Sidetracked" scribbled on the front in black pen. He reads on and finds out that it is about him, the story being written at the beginning of the movie. The unknown writer instructs Charles to go to the laundry room—he does and finds LaRoche, who survived the gunfight, waiting for him. LaRoche bemoans Jane's death and taunts Charles, threatening to continue interfering with Charles's life and family. When LaRoche slyly asks Charles if his daughter is still a virgin, Charles stabs LaRoche to death with the shank given to him by Winston.

As he leaves the laundry room, Charles encounters Detective Church who tells him that LaRoche killed three people (two in Paris, France, and one in New York). This number is increased to five with the murders of Winston and the other married scam victim. Charles then claims he was attacked and acted in self defense. Church is suspicious, but lets Charles go as he avenged Winston's death, so he can return home to his wife and daughter.

Cast

• Clive Owen as Charles Schine
• Jennifer Aniston as Lucinda Harris/Jane
• Vincent Cassel as Philippe LaRoche
• Addison Timlin as Amy Schine
• Melissa George as Deanna Schine
• RZA as Winston Boyko
• William Armstrong as Accountant
• Tom Conti as Eliot Firth
• Rachael Blake as Susan Davis
• Richard Leaf as Night Clerk Ray
• Xzibit as Dexter
• Catherine McCord as Avery Price Receptionist
• Denis O'Hare as Jerry the Lawyer
• Ortis Deley as Cop
• Georgina Chapman as Candy
• Giancarlo Esposito as Detective Franklin Church
• David Morrissey as Sam Griffin

Reception

Box office

Derailed opened in 2,443 theaters for an opening weekend gross of $12,211,986. The film made a domestic gross of $36,024,076 and an international gross of $21,455,000, giving it a worldwide gross of $57,479,076.^[1]

Critics

Roger Ebert described both Clive Owen's and Jennifer Aniston's performances as "intriguing".

Derailed received mostly negative reviews, with blog website Rotten Tomatoes giving it a rating of 21%.[1]. "Gripping while it lasts, but will be hard to remember in the morning" –Rich Cline (Shadows on the Wall) "Derailed doesn’t crash and burn, but it should be more intriguing; it falls all over itself trying to be really clever" –Cherryl Dawson (TheMovieChicks.com)"For those who have seen their fair share of films, this stuff is old hat." –Jeffrey Chen (Reeltalk Movie Reviews). Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun Times however awarded the films two and a half out of four stars and believed that Owen's and Aniston's performances were intriguing. Ebert said, "Clive Owen was my candidate for James Bond, and can play hard and heartless rotters (see "Closer"), but here he is quiet and sad, with a sort of passivity. He lets his face relax into acceptance of his own bad fortune. Jennifer Aniston does that interesting thing of not being a stereotyped sexpot but being irresistibly intriguing. That works with a man like Charles. Happily married, in debt, worried about his daughter and his job, he would be impervious to a sexy slut."^[2]

Soundtrack

The Soundtrack album is on Wu Music & 36 Chambers Records.

1. "Johnny" - Rular Rah
2. "I Love You" - Thea Van Seijen
3. "Sabotage" - Maurice Featuring HottWheelz
4. "Winston's Theme" (Orchestral) - Edward Shearmur
5. "50 Ways To Leave Your Lover" - Grayson Hill
6. "Really Want None" - Free Murda
7. "I'm Sorry" - Maurice
8. "Charles' Theme" (Orchestral) - Edward Shearmur
9. "Better Man" - Maurice
10. "My Love" - Thea Van Seijen
11. "Better Man" (Guitar Remix) - Maurice
12. "Trouble" (Video for the song can be seen and heard playing in the background of a scene) - Pink

The track that plays during the trailer is called Offshore, by Chicane. The track at the beginning of the trailer is actually called "Breathe Me" by Sia

Remakes

The film has also been remade in two Indian languages titled Pachaikili Muthucharam (Tamil) and The Train (Hindi) and a Sinhala film adaptation titled Dakina Dakina Mal.

See also

• List of American films of 2005

References

1. ^ Derailed (2005). Box Office Mojo. Retrieved 2010-11-17.
2. ^ "Derailed". Chicago Sun Times. http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20051110/REVIEWS/51107004. Retrieved July 16, 2010. 

External links

• Official site
• Derailed at the Internet Movie Database
• Derailed at AllRovi