Quartile rating: 6.5/10 · 1 rating
When two married business executives having an affair are blackmailed by a violent criminal, they are forced to turn the tables on him to save their families.
Derailed is a reasonably competent neo-noir thriller with a decent twist that subverts the initial premise, elevating it slightly above generic affair-gone-wrong fare. Clive Owen and Jennifer Aniston deliver serviceable performances, though Vincent Cassel's menacing antagonist stands out. The cinematography is workmanlike and unremarkable for the genre. The plot mechanics are functional but lean heavily on familiar blackmail thriller conventions, and the twist, while effective, borrows from well-worn noir playbooks. The ending provides reasonable satisfaction without being particularly memorable. Overall a middling thriller that does its job without distinguishing itself.