Sliding Doors
Today's previously ignored trifle is "Sliding Doors" with Gwyneth Paltrow, John Hannah and John Lynch. Written and directed by Peter Howitt. MPAA Rating R for some sexuality and language. Run time 99 minutes.
Sliding Doors is a romantic comedy with a major question attached - "What if?" What if you missed your train home and in doing so missed your significant other's daytime tryst with "the other woman"? What if you didn't? What chain of events would either set of circumstances throw into motion? Would you be better off or worse off with whatever version of reality you had stumbled into? How many futures exist at any given point in time?
These are Helen Quilley's (Gwyneth Paltrow) questions and predicaments in Sliding Doors, and she not only gets to ponder these and other questions as a result of missing her train in the London subway, but we get to observe both versions of reality simultaneously in her parallel lives. It's not a Billy Pilgrim Unstuck In Time, Slaughterhouse Five sort of circumstance - she's not aware of the Doppel-Helen - but more of a chance for us to see both possibilities and all their permutations as Helen at once dicovers, then in the same sliver of time doesn't discover her boyfriend James' (John Hannah) philandering ways. As the Helens dodge in and out of their respective stories, they make life choices based on the reality they know (DUH - what else could they do?) and the two stories diverge until the end, when the two opposite sides of each half re-connect to carry on. Sure that's vague, but I'm a vague guy. (And anyway, I just review 'em, I don't watch 'em for you.)
John Lynch adds a lot of flavor to this movie as Gerry, one of the Helens' love interest after she dumps creepy ol' James. With a Scottish accent so strong you could bludgeon a highland haggis with it, Gerry's unassuming nature and disarming wit eventually win over his particular Helen. But in the end, that gets twisted back on itself, too.
This is Peter Howitt's first exercise in directing, and he uses some well conceived, unobtrusive "Lone Star-ish" camera play to let us wobble back and forth inside the parallel lines of Helen's two lives. It's a tough concept to illustrate, and Howitt pulls it off without getting too metaphysical with it.
Sliding Doors is a cleverly written thought problem that begs you to ask yourself how many times your life has been changed by the smallest of happenings; you took a different way home, or got caught at a railroad crossing, or even just stopped to make one last phone call before you headed out the door. You just never know, do you?
I thought Sliding Doors was fun. No Oscars, but fun. At least Adam Sandler's not in it.
I gave it three cows.
Sliding Doors is a romantic comedy with a major question attached - "What if?" What if you missed your train home and in doing so missed your significant other's daytime tryst with "the other woman"? What if you didn't? What chain of events would either set of circumstances throw into motion? Would you be better off or worse off with whatever version of reality you had stumbled into? How many futures exist at any given point in time?
These are Helen Quilley's (Gwyneth Paltrow) questions and predicaments in Sliding Doors, and she not only gets to ponder these and other questions as a result of missing her train in the London subway, but we get to observe both versions of reality simultaneously in her parallel lives. It's not a Billy Pilgrim Unstuck In Time, Slaughterhouse Five sort of circumstance - she's not aware of the Doppel-Helen - but more of a chance for us to see both possibilities and all their permutations as Helen at once dicovers, then in the same sliver of time doesn't discover her boyfriend James' (John Hannah) philandering ways. As the Helens dodge in and out of their respective stories, they make life choices based on the reality they know (DUH - what else could they do?) and the two stories diverge until the end, when the two opposite sides of each half re-connect to carry on. Sure that's vague, but I'm a vague guy. (And anyway, I just review 'em, I don't watch 'em for you.)
John Lynch adds a lot of flavor to this movie as Gerry, one of the Helens' love interest after she dumps creepy ol' James. With a Scottish accent so strong you could bludgeon a highland haggis with it, Gerry's unassuming nature and disarming wit eventually win over his particular Helen. But in the end, that gets twisted back on itself, too.
This is Peter Howitt's first exercise in directing, and he uses some well conceived, unobtrusive "Lone Star-ish" camera play to let us wobble back and forth inside the parallel lines of Helen's two lives. It's a tough concept to illustrate, and Howitt pulls it off without getting too metaphysical with it.
Sliding Doors is a cleverly written thought problem that begs you to ask yourself how many times your life has been changed by the smallest of happenings; you took a different way home, or got caught at a railroad crossing, or even just stopped to make one last phone call before you headed out the door. You just never know, do you?
I thought Sliding Doors was fun. No Oscars, but fun. At least Adam Sandler's not in it.
I gave it three cows.