Derailed

Based on a book by James Siegel, Derailed follows Clive Owen’s Charles Schine and Jennifer Aniston’s Lucinda Harris as they’re attacked by Vincent Cassel’s Philippe LaRoche during an extramarital encounter – with the bulk of the narrative detailing Charles’ increasingly desperate efforts at removing Philippe from his life. Filmmaker Mikael Håfström, armed with Stuart Beattie’s screenplay, delivers a perpetually watchable yet undeniably generic thriller that benefits from its raft of compelling plot twists and relatively engaging performances, with, in terms of the latter, Owen turning in predictably strong work that effectively elevates the proceedings on an ongoing basis (It’s clear, however, that Cassel’s scenery-chewing take on a seemingly unstoppable antagonist remains a highlight.) And while the picture’s big reveal at around the one-hour mark is hardly as shocking as Håfström has intended, Derailed subsequently moves into an unexpectedly engrossing final third revolving around Charles’ table-turning exploits (and it doesn’t hurt, certainly, that the movie is capped off with an exciting, satisfying climax) – which ultimately cements the film’s place as a perfectly watchable (yet somewhat forgettable) piece of work.

*** out of ****