Not on the right track from the start

Movies revolving around scandalous affairs seem to play well with the public. "Fatal Attraction" brought Oscar nominations and "Fear" brought a very angry Mark Wahlberg. Both brought in audiences. \nThe success of this little genre is fascinating. When you get down to it, watching some jerk suffer through all his bad decisions for our amusement is a creepy but ultimately very human form of entertainment. The idea isn't to suffer and sympathize with him, but rather to see how far he'll fall. \nMaybe it's a way of projecting our guilts upon the screen, a reaffirmation of all that is indecent and punishable. The protagonist is there to hit every branch on the way down from the top of his tree, just to remind us what not to do. We're not in his corner; we just paid the ticket price to see him get reamed. \nWell, in "Derailed," it's Clive Owen on that crucifix taking one for the team. He plays Chicago advertising executive Charles Schine, who decides to relieve some midlife stress with a quick fling (Jennifer Aniston, projecting the screen presence of celery). But then, it all goes horribly wrong. A villainous thug with a French accent (Vincent Cassel) starts slapping him around and sucking his bank account dry, and the movie spins out of control. Schine, in scenes that could be called darkly comedic, becomes more and more desperate to right his wrongs, but only makes things worse. After a few predictable twists and turns, the movie ends, and you'll sigh: just another mediocre night at the movies.\nAs far as the acting goes, it's nothing special. Owen is solid. He's likable, he's got screen presence and you know he could be doing more worthy things with his time. And it should be noted that I could have played the part of Aniston's seductress; she brings nothing special to the role, and I'm just as good-looking. \nThe rest of the supporting roles are oddly cast. Xzibit shows up as Cassel's henchman, the obligatory intimidating black guy with cornrows. Melissa George is filler as the perpetually cranky wife. But the choice of RZA as the streetwise mail guy in Owen's office was especially strange. He's a good character actor, and he makes his limited role interesting, but there's too little of him to enjoy. \nAll in all, there's not much here. Just a familiar plotline, and if you're surprised by the ending, you weren't paying attention. So wait until it comes out on video. Then, wait until you're really bored or feeling really guilty about something. Then, fine, give it a shot. You have my blessing.