Derailed (2005 film)
| Derailed | |
|---|---|
 Derailed movie poster | |
| Directed by | Mikael Håfström |
| Written by | Stuart Beattie (screenplay) James Siegel (novel) |
| Produced by | Lorenzo di Bonaventura |
| Starring | Clive Owen Jennifer Aniston Vincent Cassel Melissa George Giancarlo Esposito David Morrissey Tom Conti Denis O'Hare Georgina Chapman and introducing Addison Timlin with Xzibit and RZA as "Winston" |
| Cinematography | Peter Biziou |
| Edited by | Peter Boyle |
| Music by | Ed Shearmur |
| Distributed by | - USA - The Weinstein Company - non-USA - Miramax Films |
Release date | November 11, 2005 |
Running time | 106 min. |
| Country | USA |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $22,000,000 |
| Box office | Domestic: $36,024,076 Worldwide: $57,479,076 |
Derailed is a 2005 American thriller/drama 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. The film is set in Chicago.
Plot
 | This article's plot summary may be too long or excessively detailed. (January 2010) |
Protagonist, Charles Schine (Clive Owen), is an advertising executive married to a schoolteacher in Chicago, whose tale is being written down in pencil in a notebook. The introductory scenes reveal Charles' marriage deteriorating due to both parents having busy careers, further stressed by their adolescent daughter's poorly controlled diabetes.
While on a commuter train, Charles encounters an alluring woman named Lucinda (Jennifer Aniston) when she pays for his forgotten fare. She is also married and has a daughter, whose wallet picture she shows him. Their mutual attraction grows, and the two begin meeting more frequently. Ultimately, the two are intent on consummating their affair in a shady hotel. Just as Charles and Lucinda are about to have sex, an armed man later named 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. Shortly after the incident, Charles is blackmailed by LaRoche, who threatens to kill Charles' family if he doesn't pay $20,000, which Charles promptly pays. But a month later, the attacker calls again, this time demanding $100,000—and calling from Charles' house. Charles rushes home to find LaRoche visiting with his wife Deanna (Melissa George) and daughter Amy (Addison Timlin), posing as a business associate and, much to his disgust, being exceptionally pleasant to his family.
Winston Boyko (RZA) is Charles' co-worker who works in the mailroom; 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. As they prepare to approach LaRoche in Winston's car, Winston shows Charles the shank (make-shift knife) he used in prison; he gives it to Charles for good luck. However, LaRoche is a step ahead, and shoots Winston dead through the window in his car. The murder is almost discovered by a couple of corrupt cops flirting with a prostitute named Candy (Georgina Chapman) and Charles barely escapes being implicated in the murder. He attempts to clean up the crime scene by driving the car into Lake Michigan, but the car gets stuck on the shore and Charles flees at the sound of approaching police sirens.
The next day, Charles is questioned by detective Franklin Church (Giancarlo Esposito), who also happens to be Winston's uncle, about his coworker'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 does so by taking money from an account meant to provide for the 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 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—the actual Lucinda Harris. Wildly suspicious that Jane might have been kidnapped again by LaRoche, Charles immediately goes to her condo to check if she is there. Upon arriving, he encounters a real estate agent selling the unit; she hands him a sales brochure whose cover is the same as the "wallet picture" Jane showed him at their initial train ride. Now intent on confronting her, Charles goes to the same train station where they met and waits. After some time, Jane steps out of the train and leaves the station, with Charles in pursuit; she eventually meets up with LaRoche by a shiny black limousine and kisses him amorously: Jane and LaRoche are actually lovers. Charles is dumbfounded, conned and betrayed and it turns out that LaRoche's attack on Jane wasn't actually rape at all.
Charles tracks Jane to the restaurant where they used to have dinner, where he sees her with another married scam victim. Jane calls LaRoche and his henchmen Dexter (Xzibit) to let them know they're heading for the same motel. Charles follows them back to the hotel, where she, LaRoche and Dexter are setting up yet another mark. Jane and the guy go inside the room and begin foreplay; Charles waits for LaRoche to approach that room, and knocks LaRoche unconscious before he enters. Charles breaks in with an unconscious LaRoche in his hands; Jane is shocked by Charles' sudden arrival and denies their acquaintance when asked by her intended victim. Charles shoots LaRoche and demands his money back; Dexter then enters the room and a gunfight ensues in which everyone but Charles is shot and killed. Charles wipes his prints from the guns and slips away. As he's leaving, he sees his old briefcase; he reclaims it and finds that it still has his $100,000.
The next day, Charles gets busted at work for embezzling the $10,000 he paid his co-worker Winston 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 at the beginning of the movie. In conclusion, the booklet orders Charles to go to the laundry room—where he finds LaRoche, who survived the gunfight, waiting for him. LaRoche bemoans Jane's death and taunts Charles, threatening to continue interfering with Charles' life and family. When LaRoche slyly asks Charles if his daughter is still a virgin, Charles assaults LaRoche. During the fight, LaRoche tells Charles how lucky he felt when he realized Charles was teaching the class; Charles then informs LaRoche that he specifically chose this prison, and stabs LaRoche to death with the shank given to him by Winston.
As he leaves the laundry room, Charles encounters Detective Church who reveals to 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 has no evidence upon which to do anything other than let Charles go, so he can return home to his wife and daughter.
Cast
- Clive Owen - Charles Schine
- Jennifer Aniston - Jane, who is impersonating the real Lucinda Harris
- Vincent Cassel - Philippe LaRoche
- Addison Timlin - Amy Schine
- Melissa George - Deanna Schine
- Sandra Bee - Train Conductor
- RZA - Winston Boyko
- William Armstrong - Accountant
- Tom Conti - Eliot Firth
- Rachael Blake - Susan Davis
- Richard Leaf - Night Clerk Ray
- Xzibit - Dexter
- Catherine McCord - Avery Price Receptionist
- Denis O'Hare - Jerry the Lawyer
- Ortis Deley - Cop
- Georgina Chapman - Candy
- Giancarlo Esposito - Detective Franklin Church
- David Morrissey - 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
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)
Soundtrack
The Soundtrack album is on Wu Music & 36 Chambers Records.
- "Johnny" - Rular Rah
- "I Love You" - Thea
- "Sabotage" - Maurice Featuring HottWheelz
- "Winston's Theme" (Orchestral) - Edward Shearmur
- "50 Ways To Leave Your Lover" - Grayson Hill
- "Really Want None" - Free Murda
- "I'm Sorry" - Maurice
- "Charles' Theme" (Orchestral) - Edward Shearmur
- "Better Man" - Maurice
- "My Love" - Thea
- "Better Man" (Guitar Remix) - Maurice
- "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 (2007 film) (Hindi).
See also
References
External links
