Movie Reviews: Derailed

Derailed
directed by Mikael Hafstrom

This older movie had a top shelf cast but a somewhat ridiculous story. 

But because of the cast and the fact that the plot moves quickly, it is something that can be fun to watch if you don't want to engage your deeper cognitive abilities all that much. 

The story twists were somewhat obvious to my mind, at least after the first third of the film. The film engages in a common and quietly racist trope. When the main character gets into trouble he turns to a Black employee who is WAY down the corporate ladder for advice on how to successfully break the law and deal with violent criminals. 

After all everyone knows when you need advice on scaring off thugs, it's best to talk to a Black man, who has probably been to prison and has experience with violence. This isn't a satire. So that left a bad taste in my mouth. 

This would as if I went to an Italian-American co-worker and demanded she put me in touch with the local Mafia Family or approached an Arab-American co-worker for tips on how to build effective package bombs. Problems would arise. 

Anyway this film is set in Chicago. Charles Schine (Clive Owen) is a put upon advertising executive married to a harried school teacher, Deanna (Melissa George). The couple, although not old, doesn't have a lot of time or interest in making whoopie any more. This is because their daughter has Type One diabetes and has already had two kidney transplants fail. 

The parents have to constantly monitor their daughter's glucose levels and be ready at any time of day or night to provide life saving medication or take her to the hospital. So Eros is not a regular visitor to the marital boudoir these days. 

Charles hasn't told his wife that he just lost a big account, something that is likely a precursor to losing his job.

Although Charles' position pays well, ultimately he's a working stiff.

Charles and Deanna have used much of their savings and retirement for their daughter's care. Charles and Deanna live paycheck to paycheck. Every dollar counts. One morning Deanna takes some money from Charles' wallet but doesn't leave him enough to pay the commuter train. Charles will be kicked off at the next stop and/or ticketed or arrested. 

Fortunately a fellow passenger, an attractive leggy woman named Lucinda (Jennifer Anniston), hears the commotion and decides to pay Charles' fare. The two flirt and banter with each other. 

Charles arranges his schedule so that he's always on the same train as Lucinda. Lucinda is a financial advisor, who like Charles, is also in an unhappy marriage. 

Charles is thirsty for some female attention that is, unlike his wife's, not centered around bills, struggle, and nagging.

Soon Charles and Lucinda are commenting on each other's looks and style, sharing war stories about corporate bs, meeting for lunch or dinner, complaining about their spouses and well you know the drill. After lying to spouses about emergency assignments, Charles and Lucinda search for a hotel. After Lucinda nixes a few places where she or her husband might be known, the duo find a place in a seedier part of town.

The duo get a room and prepare to get down to business. But before old Chuck can give Lucinda the best 30 seconds of her life, he suddenly realizes that he hasn't locked the room door.
Charles comes to this conclusion because an armed thug named Phillipe LaRoche (Vincent Cassel) breaks into the room, pistol whips and beats Charles into semi-consciousness/unconsciousness before assaulting Lucinda. The sneering and self-satisfied Phillipe takes all of Charles' cash, id and credit cards.

Afterwards Lucinda refuses to file a police report because she is too ashamed of what happened. She also doesn't want to explain to her husband what she was doing at the no-tell hotel. Charles is heartbroken. He didn't protect Lucinda. And Lucinda doesn't want to see him anymore.

But Phillipe wants to see Charles again. He wants money for not telling  Deanna about Charles' attempted affair. Phillipe's demands for cash are insatiable. And his threats soon go beyond informing Deanna to actually harming Deanna and Charles' daughter. 

Charles is draining accounts meant to provide for his daughter. Desperate, Charles turns for advice to his only friend at work, Winston Boyko (RZA), a  nerdy mail room clerk with a prison record and an interest in baseball trivia.

Owen portrays Charles as a sad man with a lack of spine. You may or may not be sympathetic to his character. In some respects this could have been a really good modern film noir. Cassel was evidently having a good time in his role, which was WAY over the top. The reason it wasn't a good modern film noir is that the film tried too hard to make Charlie into a likable, if not heroic character. Anniston didn't have enough to do, but it was a step away from comedy or sexpot roles. She was very believable in her role. Giancarlo Esposito and David Oyelowo have small roles.
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