Crime thrillers that are also a touch on the steamy side are always capable of capturing the imagination of audiences, but 2005’s preposterous Derailed did a fantastic job in showing how not to approach such far-fetched and outlandish source material.
Director Mikael Håfström’s adaptation of James Siegel’s novel played everything with an entirely straight face, which was the wrong way to go when almost everything that unfolds beyond the first act is inherently ridiculous. Matters weren’t helped by stars Clive Owen and Jennifer Aniston being woefully miscast, either, so it was no surprise when the film cratered on all fronts.
A 21 percent Rotten Tomatoes score, 58 percent audience approval rating, and middling $57 million at the box office pretty much tells the entire story, but Derailed has at least managed to get back on track by ending up as one of the Top 10 most-watched features among Starz subscribers in the United States, per FlixPatrol.
The two leads end up engaging in a torrid and titillating extramarital affair after meeting during their morning commute, opting to leave the fact they’re both married with children at the door. During one of their trysts in a budget motel, Vincent Cassel’s fearsome antagonist attacks them, but they’re unable to go to the police for fear of their secret being made public.
That’s when blackmail comes into play, as Derailed lurches from one ludicrous set piece and plot twist to the next, although its current status as the latest trashy genre flick to win big on streaming years after the fact can be considered a small victory for an otherwise forgotten failure.
Published: May 8, 2023 01:56 am