I watched Derailed the other night, and though the story was ok, it was far too predictable. (For those who have seen it, I figured it out during the first hotel scene.) The rest of the movie was a “yup, I was right” evening.

The story is about this guy who sees Jennifer Aniston on a train and ends up attempting a one-night fling with her. Things don’t go quite like he planned, and he totally loses control of his life. It sounds ok, right? Not really.

Now, there’s not a heterosexual male in all of these great United States that minds seeing Jennifer Aniston on screen for a couple of hours. She’s gorgeous. And I think I can even say that knowing my wife might read this. The problem with Jennifer is that she is, was, and forever will be Rachel Green. And though she put forth a good effort in Derailed, she’s just not believable as a woman who would cheat on her husband with a guy she met on a train.

Jennifer should be credited for stretching what she can do as an actress (or at least trying), and attempting to get out of the “Rachel Green” mold, but it’s going to take a lot of time and a lot of different roles for her to succeed outside of the “Friends” group.

Phylicia Rashad will always be Claire Huxstable; Jason Alexander will always be George Costanza; and Jennifer Aniston, unless she gets lucky with several good movies and good performances, will always be Rachel Green. And Rachel Green just wasn’t that good in “Derailed.”

In short: Predictable story + mediocre acting = don’t bother.