Derailed – Unrated Version (HD-DVD)
Picture:
B- Sound: B- Extras: C- Film: C-
Jennifer
Aniston’s parade of bad cinema continues with Mikael Hafstrom’s would-be
thriller Derailed, in a story about
a married man (Clive Owen; very wasted in this mess) who meets a young woman
(Aniston) “by chance” and unfortunately for him, goes drinking with her. Suddenly, he’s drunk and then assaulted and
so is she. Then it gets worse, for them
and we the viewer.
Enter
Vincent Cassel, who plays yet another villain.
She turns out to be married too, which introduces blackmail and
potential extortion soon follows.
However, an early scene (from the inept screenplay by Stuart Beattie)
telegraphs too much to those who have seen enough of these thrillers like this
critic and unless you are a fan of Friends
too distracted by Aniston, you’ll likely catch it.
Musician/rappers
Xzibit and the Rza are also added in what almost seems like desperation, though
they got paid, so that’s not so bad. I
felt insulted when I first saw this and am glad I had said reaction because
this is a real mess. It is sad how poor
thrillers have become due to the genre being treated only like a matter of
formula when they have been, can be and are so much more. This becomes an excuse for limited suspense
and overproduced, prepackaged phoniness as we have here. Watch enough and you’ll be rooting for the
killer(s), give or take the likable Owen.
The 2.35
X 1 digital 1080p High Definition image is not bad but not great, with some diluted
color and weak Super 35mm shooting by cinematographer Peter Biziou, B.S.C.,
whose work with Alan Parker and Terry Gilliam is far more interesting than
this. The Dolby Digital 5.1 at Plus
levels is also not spectacular, with limited surrounds and dialogue-based
mixing. The combination is adequate, but
not spectacular and we have not seen the regular DVD. Also note that this disc offers some start-up
troubles, so it is not your machine.
Extras include
the original theatrical trailer, a making of featurette and deleted scenes.
- Nicholas Sheffo
