Year:
1998
Studio:
Paramount Pictures/
Miramax Films/Mirage
Enterprises
Movie:
3/5
DVD:
1/5
Teaser
Ever wonder what if your life turned out different? How a minor event
can totally change your life? "Sliding Doors" is a movie about two
outcomes for the protagonist, Helen (Gwyneth Paltrow). In one, she just
beats the sliding doors of a subway train and goes down one path where
she returns home and finds her boyfriend cheating on her. In the other
she misses the train and doesn't discover her cheating boyfriend. Which
outcome is better?
Movie
This is an unusual movie filmed in Britain and having British
characters. I'm impressed that they pulled off the two realities in a
refreshing way. Usually you see one option, then you see the other
option and it's very clear when the film transitions back and forth.
"Sliding Doors" does it seamlessly, often panning the camera from one
Helen to the next since in both realities she frequents the same
places, though for different reasons.
To keep the two Helens straight, early on one gets into an accident and
has a bandage on her forehead. Then later the other dyes her hair blond
and from then on it's easy to tell them apart. Sometimes though it took
a few moments to realize which reality you are witnessing when Helen is
not in the scene.
In one reality, Helen finds her boyfriend Gerry (John Lynch) in bed
with his old girlfriend Lydia (Jeanne Tripplehorn). She breaks up with
him and meets James (John Hannah), a wonderful man with an odd
obsession with Monty Python. They have a great relationship that is
going to work yet ends tragically in a rather arbitrary fashion. But it
makes sense a few minutes later.
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In the other
reality Helen doesn't find out and she has a rather hard
life as she slowly starts suspecting Gerry. It's only right at the end
of the movie that Helen finds the truth and leaves Gerry, only to meet
James. Then the movie ends and you know how it's going to turn out
since you've just seen it.
That's what was impressive about the movie. At the end of the movie I
didn't feel like I saw the same short movie twice. It was two different
yet related stories that mesh together into a greater whole. That said,
I still only rated the movie a 3 because while the execution is great,
the story is only so so.
Actors
Gwyneth Paltrow does a fine job as Helen. I do have a problem with her
doing a British accent since, having seen her lampoon it on Saturday
Night Live, I now can't help but think that she is making fun of the
accent every time she talks in it. You also get to see Ms Paltrow as a
blond and a brunette so you can compare which is better (as usual, it
also depends on underlying attitude, if you put out the vibe you are so
much more sexy than if you don't).
John Hannah is also good, though I keep thinking of his buffoonish
character in the two Mummy movies. John Lynch I don't recognize and
looking at his movie credits I don't think I've seen any of his films.
Jeanne Tripplehorn I remember first noticing in one of the best
post-apocalytic three hour plus movie ever made, Waterworld.
DVD
The film is shown in television wide-screen format. No extra material.
Recommendations
This is a nice romantic comedy that I think most people would enjoy.
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