JENNIFER Aniston's first film since leaving Friends, a lead role for Clive Owen and a Fatal Attraction-style plot - this had all the makings of a box office hit.
Aniston delivered a sound performance, far removed from Rachel, and Owen was excellent.
But the psychology of the characters behind this plot let this movie down.
Derailed starts with Charles Schine (Owen), a happily married father-of-one, meeting Lucinda Harris (Aniston) on an early morning train into work. The chemistry between them goes into overdrive and they end up in a seedy hotel room.
Just as they're about to consummate their illicit affair, psychopath Philippe LaRoche (Vincent Cassel) bursts in. He attacks Charles, leaving him unconscious, and rapes Lucinda.
He later contacts Charles and proceeds to blackmail him - and this is the when the story gets a little too hard to swallow.
One of the reasons Fatal Attraction was such a success was because the scenario of Michael Douglas having a passionate fling and then doing all he could to stop his wife finding out, was believable.
But it's far-fetched to assume that Charles would pay a blackmailer thousands of dollars for something he didn't actually do!
Even more so, because he uses the money he and his wife have saved for treatment for their ill daughter to pay him off.
Equally unbelievable is that they didn't report the rape to the police in the first place.
Having said that, there's plenty of suspense and several twists and turns but only a first class performance from Owen saves the day.
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