Derailed
Encyclopedia
Derailed is a 2005 British-American thriller 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
. This film was the first to be distributed by The Weinstein Company
in the United States. The film is set in Chicago
.
), is a Chicago advertising executive, whose tale is being written down in a notebook by an unidentified man in a prison cell. Flashback several months, and we see Charles at home with his wife and teenage daughter. Charles's marriage is deteriorating, and his daughter suffers from diabetes, requiring expensive medication not covered by insurance.
On a commuter train, Charles encounters an alluring woman named Lucinda Harris (Jennifer Aniston
). She is also married, has a daughter, and a high-powered job as a financial adviser. A mutual attraction develops, and the two begin meeting more frequently. Ultimately, they decide to consummate their affair
and wind up in a seedy hotel. An armed man—later identified 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. Charles also feels guilty for failing to prevent the rape of Lucinda. Shortly after the incident, Charles is blackmail
ed by LaRoche, who threatens to kill Charles's family if he doesn't pay $20,000, which Charles promptly pays (after turning down an offer of cash from Lucinda). But a month later, the attacker calls again, this time demanding $100,000—and calling from Charles's house. Charles rushes home to find LaRoche visiting with his wife Deanna (Melissa George
) and daughter Amy (Addison Timlin
), posing as a business associate.
Winston Boyko (RZA
) is an ex-con who works in the mailroom of the ad agency; 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. Charles embezzles the $10,000 from his employer. Winston gives Charles a shank
(make-shift knife) he used in prison. However, LaRoche is a step ahead, and shoots Winston dead through the window in his car.
Charles is questioned by detective Franklin Church (Giancarlo Esposito
) about Winston'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 takes the money from an account meant specifically for his 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 for Amy's medical treatment, 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 who is the actual Lucinda Harris. The woman whom Charles met on the train is really Jane, a temporary employee, who was impersonating Lucinda Harris. Charles realizes Jane was in on the scam
. He tracks her to the train station and sees her kissing LaRoche.
Charles, determined to retrieve his stolen $100,000, follows Jane's moves and sees that she has suckered another unsuspecting businessman on the train. Charles returns to the hotel where Jane, LaRoche, and their partner Dexter (Xzibit
) are setting up their new mark. Jane and the businessman go inside the room; Charles waits for LaRoche to approach that room and knocks him unconscious before he enters. Charles breaks in with an unconscious LaRoche in his hands; he demands the return of his money. A gunfight ensues when the mark tries to take the gun from Charles, producing a wild shot that hits Jane, then everyone else except Charles gets shot. (After the melee Charles stands and watches "the false Lucinda" look confused and then die.) Then Charles wipes his prints from the guns and slips away. As he's leaving, he reclaims his briefcase from the hotel's safe. It still contains his $100,000.
Charles is arrested for embezzling the $10,000 that he paid Winston before his murder 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 being written at the beginning of the movie. The unknown writer instructs Charles to go to the laundry room—he does and finds LaRoche, who survived the gunfight, waiting for him. LaRoche bemoans Jane's death and taunts Charles, threatening to continue interfering with Charles's life and family. When LaRoche slyly asks Charles if his daughter is still a virgin, Charles stabs LaRoche to death with the shank
given to him by Winston.
As he leaves the laundry room, Charles encounters Detective Church who tells 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 lets Charles go as he avenged Winston's death, so he can return home to his wife and daughter.
giving it a rating of 21%.http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/derailed/. "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). Roger Ebert
of the Chicago Sun Times however awarded the films two and a half out of four stars and believed that Owen's and Aniston's performances were intriguing. Ebert said, "Clive Owen was my candidate for James Bond, and can play hard and heartless rotters (see "Closer"), but here he is quiet and sad, with a sort of passivity. He lets his face relax into acceptance of his own bad fortune. Jennifer Aniston does that interesting thing of not being a stereotyped sexpot but being irresistibly intriguing. That works with a man like Charles. Happily married, in debt, worried about his daughter and his job, he would be impervious to a sexy slut."
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
(Hindi) and a Sinhala film adaptation titled Dakina Dakina Mal.
Derailed (novel)
Derailed is a thriller novel written by James Siegel and published in February 2003. It tells the story of Charles Schine, a man who works in the advertising business, who suddenly finds himself having an affair, being blackmailed, and having the police investigate him for murder, all because he...
by James Siegel
James Siegel
James Siegel is an American thriller novelist. He holds a B.A. from the York College 1977, City University of New York, and lives in Long Island....
. The film is directed
Film director
A film director is a person who directs the actors and film crew in filmmaking. They control a film's artistic and dramatic nathan roach, while guiding the technical crew and actors.-Responsibilities:...
by Mikael Håfström
Mikael Håfström
Jan Mikael Håfström , known as Mikael Håfström, is a Swedish screenwriter and director.-Biography:Håfström directed the exorcism thriller The Rite, which is based on a novel from Matt Baglio.- Filmography :...
and stars Clive Owen
Clive Owen
Clive Owen is an English actor, who has worked on television, stage and film. He first gained recognition in the United Kingdom for portraying the lead in the ITV series Chancer from 1990 to 1991...
, Jennifer Aniston
Jennifer Aniston
Jennifer Joanna Aniston is an American actress, film director, and producer, best known for her role as Rachel Green on the television sitcom Friends, a role which earned her an Emmy Award, a Golden Globe Award, and a Screen Actors Guild Award.Aniston has also enjoyed a successful film career,...
, Vincent Cassel
Vincent Cassel
Vincent Cassel is a Cesar award winning French actor probably best known to English-speaking audiences through his performances in the Ocean's Trilogy of films and Darren Aronofsky's Black Swan.-Personal life:...
, Melissa George
Melissa George
Melissa Suzanne George is an Australian film and television actress who has worked in Australia, the United Kingdom and the United States. Melissa is perhaps best known for her role as Angel Parrish on the Australian soap opera Home and Away...
, Addison Timlin
Addison Timlin
Addison Timlin is an American actress. She appeared as Sasha Bingham in season four of Californication.-Career:...
, Giancarlo Esposito
Giancarlo Esposito
Giancarlo Giuseppe Alessandro Esposito is a Danish-born American film and television actor and director.-Early life:Esposito was born in Copenhagen, Denmark to an Italian father and African-American mother. His mother was an opera and nightclub singer from Alabama, who once appeared on the same...
, RZA
RZA
Robert Fitzgerald Diggs, better known by his stage name RZA , is an American Grammy-winning music producer, multi-instrumentalist, author, emcee, and occasional actor, director, and screenwriter. A prominent figure in Hip Hop, RZA is the de facto leader of the Wu-Tang Clan. He has produced almost...
and Xzibit
Xzibit
Alvin Nathaniel Joiner , better known by his stage name Xzibit , is an American rapper, actor, and television host. He is known as the host of the MTV show Pimp My Ride, which brought him mainstream success...
. This film was the first to be distributed by The Weinstein Company
The Weinstein Company
The Weinstein Company is an American film studio founded by Bob and Harvey Weinstein in 2005 after the brothers left the then-Disney-owned Miramax Films, which they had co-founded in 1979...
in the United States. The film is set in Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
.
Plot
Charles Schine (Clive OwenClive Owen
Clive Owen is an English actor, who has worked on television, stage and film. He first gained recognition in the United Kingdom for portraying the lead in the ITV series Chancer from 1990 to 1991...
), is a Chicago advertising executive, whose tale is being written down in a notebook by an unidentified man in a prison cell. Flashback several months, and we see Charles at home with his wife and teenage daughter. Charles's marriage is deteriorating, and his daughter suffers from diabetes, requiring expensive medication not covered by insurance.
On a commuter train, Charles encounters an alluring woman named Lucinda Harris (Jennifer Aniston
Jennifer Aniston
Jennifer Joanna Aniston is an American actress, film director, and producer, best known for her role as Rachel Green on the television sitcom Friends, a role which earned her an Emmy Award, a Golden Globe Award, and a Screen Actors Guild Award.Aniston has also enjoyed a successful film career,...
). She is also married, has a daughter, and a high-powered job as a financial adviser. A mutual attraction develops, and the two begin meeting more frequently. Ultimately, they decide to consummate their affair
Adultery
Adultery is sexual infidelity to one's spouse, and is a form of extramarital sex. It originally referred only to sex between a woman who was married and a person other than her spouse. Even in cases of separation from one's spouse, an extramarital affair is still considered adultery.Adultery is...
and wind up in a seedy hotel. An armed man—later identified as Philippe LaRoche (Vincent Cassel
Vincent Cassel
Vincent Cassel is a Cesar award winning French actor probably best known to English-speaking audiences through his performances in the Ocean's Trilogy of films and Darren Aronofsky's Black Swan.-Personal life:...
)—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. Charles also feels guilty for failing to prevent the rape of Lucinda. Shortly after the incident, Charles is blackmail
Blackmail
In common usage, blackmail is a crime involving threats to reveal substantially true or false information about a person to the public, a family member, or associates unless a demand is met. It may be defined as coercion involving threats of physical harm, threat of criminal prosecution, or threats...
ed by LaRoche, who threatens to kill Charles's family if he doesn't pay $20,000, which Charles promptly pays (after turning down an offer of cash from Lucinda). But a month later, the attacker calls again, this time demanding $100,000—and calling from Charles's house. Charles rushes home to find LaRoche visiting with his wife Deanna (Melissa George
Melissa George
Melissa Suzanne George is an Australian film and television actress who has worked in Australia, the United Kingdom and the United States. Melissa is perhaps best known for her role as Angel Parrish on the Australian soap opera Home and Away...
) and daughter Amy (Addison Timlin
Addison Timlin
Addison Timlin is an American actress. She appeared as Sasha Bingham in season four of Californication.-Career:...
), posing as a business associate.
Winston Boyko (RZA
RZA
Robert Fitzgerald Diggs, better known by his stage name RZA , is an American Grammy-winning music producer, multi-instrumentalist, author, emcee, and occasional actor, director, and screenwriter. A prominent figure in Hip Hop, RZA is the de facto leader of the Wu-Tang Clan. He has produced almost...
) is an ex-con who works in the mailroom of the ad agency; 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. Charles embezzles the $10,000 from his employer. Winston gives Charles a shank
Shiv (weapon)
A shiv is a slang term for any sharp or pointed implement used as a knife-like weapon. However, the word in practical usage is frequently used when referring to an improvised bladed weapon. Shivs are commonly made by inmates in prisons across the world...
(make-shift knife) he used in prison. However, LaRoche is a step ahead, and shoots Winston dead through the window in his car.
Charles is questioned by detective Franklin Church (Giancarlo Esposito
Giancarlo Esposito
Giancarlo Giuseppe Alessandro Esposito is a Danish-born American film and television actor and director.-Early life:Esposito was born in Copenhagen, Denmark to an Italian father and African-American mother. His mother was an opera and nightclub singer from Alabama, who once appeared on the same...
) about Winston'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 takes the money from an account meant specifically for his 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 for Amy's medical treatment, 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 who is the actual Lucinda Harris. The woman whom Charles met on the train is really Jane, a temporary employee, who was impersonating Lucinda Harris. Charles realizes Jane was in on the scam
Badger game
The badger game is an extortion scheme, often perpetrated on married men, in which the victim or "mark" is tricked into a compromising position to make him vulnerable to blackmail....
. He tracks her to the train station and sees her kissing LaRoche.
Charles, determined to retrieve his stolen $100,000, follows Jane's moves and sees that she has suckered another unsuspecting businessman on the train. Charles returns to the hotel where Jane, LaRoche, and their partner Dexter (Xzibit
Xzibit
Alvin Nathaniel Joiner , better known by his stage name Xzibit , is an American rapper, actor, and television host. He is known as the host of the MTV show Pimp My Ride, which brought him mainstream success...
) are setting up their new mark. Jane and the businessman go inside the room; Charles waits for LaRoche to approach that room and knocks him unconscious before he enters. Charles breaks in with an unconscious LaRoche in his hands; he demands the return of his money. A gunfight ensues when the mark tries to take the gun from Charles, producing a wild shot that hits Jane, then everyone else except Charles gets shot. (After the melee Charles stands and watches "the false Lucinda" look confused and then die.) Then Charles wipes his prints from the guns and slips away. As he's leaving, he reclaims his briefcase from the hotel's safe. It still contains his $100,000.
Charles is arrested for embezzling the $10,000 that he paid Winston before his murder 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 being written at the beginning of the movie. The unknown writer instructs Charles to go to the laundry room—he does and finds LaRoche, who survived the gunfight, waiting for him. LaRoche bemoans Jane's death and taunts Charles, threatening to continue interfering with Charles's life and family. When LaRoche slyly asks Charles if his daughter is still a virgin, Charles stabs LaRoche to death with the shank
Shiv (weapon)
A shiv is a slang term for any sharp or pointed implement used as a knife-like weapon. However, the word in practical usage is frequently used when referring to an improvised bladed weapon. Shivs are commonly made by inmates in prisons across the world...
given to him by Winston.
As he leaves the laundry room, Charles encounters Detective Church who tells 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 lets Charles go as he avenged Winston's death, so he can return home to his wife and daughter.
Cast
- Clive OwenClive OwenClive Owen is an English actor, who has worked on television, stage and film. He first gained recognition in the United Kingdom for portraying the lead in the ITV series Chancer from 1990 to 1991...
as Charles Schine - Jennifer AnistonJennifer AnistonJennifer Joanna Aniston is an American actress, film director, and producer, best known for her role as Rachel Green on the television sitcom Friends, a role which earned her an Emmy Award, a Golden Globe Award, and a Screen Actors Guild Award.Aniston has also enjoyed a successful film career,...
as Lucinda Harris/Jane - Vincent CasselVincent CasselVincent Cassel is a Cesar award winning French actor probably best known to English-speaking audiences through his performances in the Ocean's Trilogy of films and Darren Aronofsky's Black Swan.-Personal life:...
as Philippe LaRoche - Addison TimlinAddison TimlinAddison Timlin is an American actress. She appeared as Sasha Bingham in season four of Californication.-Career:...
as Amy Schine - Melissa GeorgeMelissa GeorgeMelissa Suzanne George is an Australian film and television actress who has worked in Australia, the United Kingdom and the United States. Melissa is perhaps best known for her role as Angel Parrish on the Australian soap opera Home and Away...
as Deanna Schine - RZARZARobert Fitzgerald Diggs, better known by his stage name RZA , is an American Grammy-winning music producer, multi-instrumentalist, author, emcee, and occasional actor, director, and screenwriter. A prominent figure in Hip Hop, RZA is the de facto leader of the Wu-Tang Clan. He has produced almost...
as Winston Boyko - William ArmstrongWilliam ArmstrongWilliam Armstrong may refer to:* Kinmont Willie Armstrong , Scottish border reiver, known as "Kinmont Willie"* William Armstrong , Scottish border freebooter, known as "Christie's Will"...
as Accountant - Tom ContiTom ContiThomas "Tom" Conti is a Scottish actor, theatre director and novelist.-Early life:Born Thomas Conti in Paisley, Renfrewshire, he was brought up Roman Catholic, but he considers himself anti-religious...
as Eliot Firth - Rachael Blake as Susan Davis
- Richard LeafRichard LeafRichard Leaf is a British actor.He has had several small parts in television and stage productions. Leaf is married to actress Tamsin Greig, star of Black Books, Green Wing and Love Soup. The actor is notable for his role as the Governor of York, nephew of King Edward I in Mel Gibson's Braveheart...
as Night Clerk Ray - XzibitXzibitAlvin Nathaniel Joiner , better known by his stage name Xzibit , is an American rapper, actor, and television host. He is known as the host of the MTV show Pimp My Ride, which brought him mainstream success...
as Dexter - Catherine McCordCatherine McCordCatherine McCord is an American fashion model, actress, television program hostess, and blogger.-Biography:McCord was born in Louisville, Kentucky, and began modeling for Elite Model Management at the age of 14. She has appeared on the covers of Glamour and Elle magazines, and walked the runway...
as Avery Price Receptionist - Denis O'HareDenis O'HareDenis O'Hare is an American actor noted for his award winning performances in Take Me Out and Sweet Charity as well as the HBO television show True Blood. He is also known for his supporting roles in the films Charlie Wilson's War and Milk...
as Jerry the Lawyer - Ortis DeleyOrtis DeleyOrtis Deley is a British television presenter, radio DJ and actor of Ghanaian/Nigerian descent. He went to Ernest Bevin College in Tooting Bec, London. He is currently one of the presenters of The Gadget Show and presenter of Choice FM on Sunday mornings....
as Cop - Georgina ChapmanGeorgina ChapmanGeorgina Chapman is an English fashion designer and actress. Chapman, alongside Keren Craig, an actress and a former model, are the co-founders of fashion label Marchesa.-Biography:...
as Candy - Giancarlo EspositoGiancarlo EspositoGiancarlo Giuseppe Alessandro Esposito is a Danish-born American film and television actor and director.-Early life:Esposito was born in Copenhagen, Denmark to an Italian father and African-American mother. His mother was an opera and nightclub singer from Alabama, who once appeared on the same...
as Detective Franklin Church - David MorrisseyDavid MorrisseyDavid Mark Morrissey is an English actor and director. Morrissey grew up in the Kensington and Knotty Ash areas of Liverpool, and learned to act at the city's Everyman Youth Theatre. At the age of 18, he was cast in the television series One Summer , which won him recognition throughout the country...
as Sam Griffin
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.Critics
Derailed received mostly negative reviews, with blog website Rotten TomatoesRotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is a website devoted to reviews, information, and news of films—widely known as a film review aggregator. Its name derives from the cliché of audiences throwing tomatoes and other vegetables at a poor stage performance...
giving it a rating of 21%.http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/derailed/. "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). Roger Ebert
Roger Ebert
Roger Joseph Ebert is an American film critic and screenwriter. He is the first film critic to win a Pulitzer Prize for Criticism.Ebert is known for his film review column and for the television programs Sneak Previews, At the Movies with Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert, and Siskel and Ebert and The...
of the Chicago Sun Times however awarded the films two and a half out of four stars and believed that Owen's and Aniston's performances were intriguing. Ebert said, "Clive Owen was my candidate for James Bond, and can play hard and heartless rotters (see "Closer"), but here he is quiet and sad, with a sort of passivity. He lets his face relax into acceptance of his own bad fortune. Jennifer Aniston does that interesting thing of not being a stereotyped sexpot but being irresistibly intriguing. That works with a man like Charles. Happily married, in debt, worried about his daughter and his job, he would be impervious to a sexy slut."
Soundtrack
The Soundtrack album is on Wu Music & 36 Chambers Records.- "Johnny" - Rular Rah
- "I Love You" - Thea Van Seijen
- "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 Van Seijen
- "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
Chicane (recording artist)
Chicane is a British electronic dance music act, and the guise of British musician, composer, songwriter and record producer, Nicholas Bracegirdle....
.
The track at the beginning of the trailer is actually called "Breathe Me" by Sia
Sia Furler
Sia Kate Isobelle Furler or simply Sia, is an Australian pop, downtempo, and jazz singer and songwriter. In 2000, her single, "Taken for Granted" was a top 10 hit in the United Kingdom. Her 2008 album, Some People Have Real Problems peaked in the top 30 on the Billboard 200...
Remakes
The film has also been remade in two Indian languages titled Pachaikili Muthucharam (Tamil) and The TrainThe Train (2007 film)
The Train is a 2007 Bollywood film about a married couple caught up in a complex emotional tangle. The film is an emotional thriller that revolves around an extramarital affair. This is the debut for actress Sayali Bhagat...
(Hindi) and a Sinhala film adaptation titled Dakina Dakina Mal.