Just as the film Fatal Attraction scared men everywhere into fidelity in the 90’s, Derailed just might make you think twice before cheating on your spouse. Through a twist of fate, Charles meets a beautiful and intriguing woman, Lucinda, on the train. Both are professionals traveling to the city. Both are married and even share pictures of their children with each other. Then there’s that moment when they have the opportunity to do the right thing, to not act on their impulses. In this movie it’s no surprise (really! – it’s shown in the trailers and commercials) that the two characters choose to take the wrong path. The first twist this story takes is also shown in previews, a man attacks and blackmails them. From there the story winds down a very dark road. I enjoyed the twists and was even surprised by a few of them. The film was overrun with dark and rainy shots, and Clive Owen plays yet another solemn character. This was a new role for Jennifer Anniston and I think she was quite convincing. But it was Vincent Cassel as the evil con man who really stood out. He was genuinely nasty and frightening. I wouldn’t want to meet up with him any time soon.
In my opinion this film definitely deserves its R-rating and is not approved by Dove. Although I expected the sexual scenes to be pervasive, it was the language and violence that put it over the top. It seemed like every other word out of their mouths was foul. And although graphic shooting scenes are common even on television, I think they went overboard here. More disturbing to me was the vigilante ending that glorified revenge. Oops! I can’t tell you any more than that. Well I could, but then I’d have to kill you.
