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# ‘Derailed’ casts doubt
- URL: https://www.smdp.com/derailed-casts-doubt/
- Published: 2005-11-11T16:00:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-23T08:08:39.000Z
- Author: Dan Dunn
- Tags: Entertainment, Santa Monica, #archive-import

In Hollywood thrillers, looks are often intentionally deceiving. In the case of “Derailed,” which appears to have all the elements in place to be a first-class nail-biter, the deception is downright disappointing. The movie stars that populate Swedish director Mikael Hafstrom’s American debut sure have been plenty of fun to watch in previous films, but here they get derailed by a script (by “Collateral” scribe Stuart Beattie) that would make Samuel Morse happy (he invented the TELE- GRAPH … get it?). Plus, there’s a manifest shortage of chemistry for which the blame should be placed squarely on the shoulders of the casting director.

A gender-reversed take on “Unfaithful,” Hafstrom’s movie explores the dire repercussions of schlubby Chicago ad exec Charles Schine’s (Clive Owen) infatuation with sexpot money manager Lucinda Harris (Jennifer Aniston). After they meet on the morning train, flirtation quickly leads to a hotel room where foreplay is rudely interrupted by a gun-toting Gallic stranger named LaRoche (Vincent Cassel of “Irreversible”), who whups up on Charles, rapes Lucinda and steals their belongings. Fearing their spouses will discover the truth, Lucinda convinces Charles not to involve the police. Shortly thereafter, LaRoche contacts Charles and demands hush money. Connect the dots from there.

Now about the casting … it’s hard to tell what is less believable: Dashing leading man Owen as a lily-livered cur, rom-com “Friends”-ster Aniston vamping it up, or a pretty boy like Cassel playing the angry baggage handler to Owen’s defenseless piece of luggage. One thing’s certain: The mix simply does not work. Hip-hop icons RZA and Xzibit get stuck with stereotypical thug roles that seem conspicuously out of place in this setting, and the suspicion is that they were included with the intention of appealing to a wider audience. Diversity is always welcome, but blatant exploitation is something else altogether. Perhaps we’re supposed to feel better about it because they made the main villain French. (RATED R. RUNNING TIME: 107 MINUTES)

*Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on November 11, 2005.* [Read the original PDF.](https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/smdp%5Fbackissues/111105.pdf?ref=smdp.com)