It was neither sexy nor surprising – the two things that I had hoped for to find in Derailed. While there are a couple of interesting moments, the plot twist is about as obvious as a hooker on one of those HBO specials.

Charles Schine (Owen) is living in a beautiful house with his slightly embittered wife Deanna (Melissa) and lovely, but dying teen daughter Amy (Addison). The latter suffers from Type 1 Diabetes and her body has already rejected three kidneys; the Schines have been stockpiling funds in hopes of a miracle anti-rejection drug to save their daughter. Everything is threatened when Charles’ attempted one-night-stand with Lucinda (Jennifer) goes awry. Instead of having sex, Charles and Lucinda find themselves in the midst of a blackmail, murderous scheme that could ruin everything: most importantly, clean out the savings meant for Amy’s treatment.

With some tips from Winston (RZA), the charming, ex-con mailroom clerk, Charles picks up a few tricks of the trade on how to survive this mess. There is a lot with which he has to contend including the clever extortionist Philippe (Vincent) and sidekick Dexter (Xzibit), along with suspicious Detective Church (Giancarlo). Also, Charles’ daughter is getting sicker and his wife is getting sicker of him. This type of multi-layered story could be exciting, but director Mikael Håfström chooses to carry us along in a lethargic pace that kills any potentially exciting moments.

Derailed showed promise, but failed to deliver on every level.