When the novel DERAILED by James Siegel came out, it caused a minor stir. Some readers loved it, some hated it. I came down sort of in the middle, thinking that the book had a couple of major flaws but also finding some things to like about it.
So I was willing to give the movie a try, and somewhat to my surprise, I found that I liked it quite a bit. This is one of those cases where the screenwriter put his finger on the problems that plagued the novel and fixed them, straightening out the confusing structure of the book and completely eliminating the one over-the-top plot development that made a lot of readers, myself included, want to heave the book across the room. I thought before seeing the movie that Jennifer Aniston was miscast in her role, but actually she did a more than okay job. So what we have here is a nice little thriller with a very satisfying ending that probably deserved to be more successful than it was.
UPDATE: Oddly enough for me, since it's been ten years, I remember the twist--actually a deus ex machina--in the book, which, as I recall, the movie left out. In my original post about the book, I said that I might read something else by James Siegel, or I might not. I haven't.
3 comments:
The big flaw in the book was too much for me, so I never saw the movie. I did read another book by Siegel, but I didn't like it even a little bit.
I'm a big fan of the movie but never read the book. Best movie Aniston ever made for sure.
It looked interesting at the time...I hadn't caught up with the book nor its reception...but I've yet to see it...
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