This is How Movies Should Be Made

That was an excellent one.

Clever, believable, and super fun to watch. It totally has replay value.

It is an exhilarating, distressing, funny and profound film, with one of the more memorable film scores in years,

This movie is fantastic. The story developed in a way that made you always wanted to know what is going to happen next and it kept me entertained. The whole cast was great. Amazing performances by Vincent, Clive and Jennifer Aniston and absolutely loved the way Xzibit acted on this movie. Recommended!

Derailed (2005): Dir: Mikael Hafstrom / Cast: Clive Owen, Jennifer Aniston, Vincent Cassel, Melissa George, RZA: Standard thriller about circumstances that take unexpected turns. Clive Owens plays a married businessman whose daughter is diabetic. He encounters Jennifer Aniston on a train and an affair follows soon after. Unfortunately for them an assailant breaks into their hotel room and makes off with their money thus leading to hellish circumstances for Owen when demands for more cash follow. Effective setup but the big plot surprise isn't overly surprising plus the conclusion is totally contrived. Directed by Mikael Hafstrom with flair, but his screenwriter cannot match him and instead opts for formula driven drivel that is a yawner. Owen is sympathetic despite being guilty, but Aniston is not as interesting as the film attempts to make her out to be. We are suppose to be aroused by her sense of sexuality and the roughness of her attack but intelligent viewers will arrive at Owen's conclusion long before he does. Flat supporting roles by Vincent Cassel as the villain who pretty much remains one note throughout the rest of the film, and Melissa George as Owen's wife who exists more for plot convenience than as a human being. Themes bypassed for its strong sexual peepshow that is only a tad more entertaining than the average porn presentation. Score: 4 ½ / 10

Charles (Clive Owen) and Deanna Schine (Melissa George) are in a troubled marriage. Their sick daughter Amy (Addison Timlin) notices. He meets Lucinda Harris (Jennifer Aniston) on the train to work. They flirt and start to meet more often. He's having trouble at work as a financial adviser. He's saving money for anti-rejection drugs for Amy's kidney transplant. After betting Lucinda that he could kiss her without touching her, they go to a sleazy hotel together. LaRoche (Vincent Cassel) hold them up and rapes Lucinda. She tells him not to call the cops. LaRoche soon starts blackmailing him. He tells ex-con Winston Boyko who works at his company.The sick daughter really screws things up. It makes it hard to sympathize with Charles who is cheating not only on Deanna but also Amy. Then he gives away the money for his daughter's health. It all adds up to a lot of wrong motivations. The twist is both obvious and unearned. Aniston keeps the movie compelling and Vincent Cassel is a good cartoon villain. However it is simply too manipulative and too many things go wrong. Although the bar bet is pretty smooth.

This will be a small review as requested by IMDb. The director is Swedish, so I feel a bit of a, what is the word, perhaps obligation, to provide a review since I'm 1/2 Swede.Anyway, while at a ski resort, I happened upon a pile of DVDs and decided to pick "Derailed" as it was the highest rated on IMDb that I hadn't already seen.The film starts out fine, kind of boring, but the production quality is high (and Anniston is hot) so I keep watching. After awhile I think to myself this movie is actually getting better the longer I watch it, which is unusual for current films. Clive Owen is a very good actor, by the way.However, at a certain point I realize what is going on and it becomes predictable, to a point.Then, all a few unexpected completely unrealistic twists occur near the very end which kind of sully the entire experience.The direction was very good though.