Sliding Doors . Austin Chronicle . 03-01-99

Sliding Doors

DIRECTED BY: Peter Howitt

REVIEWED: 03-01-99

Imagine that the rest of your life could be drastically changed based on whether or not you make it to your train or bus on time. Capital Metro users may not want to waste too much thought on this concept, but it makes for a provocative film angle. Sliding Doors opens with London PR rep Helen (Gwyneth Paltrow with a fancy accent) who has just been canned from her agency and sadly returns to her flat. From here, the movie splits into two separate realities based on whether or not she made it through the subway's sliding doors in time for the ride home. If she does make the train, she catches her louse beau Gerry (John Lynch) in the sack with his ex, Lydia (Jeanne Tripplehorn). If she misses the train, she misses the tryst entirely and stands by her unfaithful yet loving man. The emancipated Helen gets a new do, starts her own PR agency, and meets up with the ultra-nice James (John Hannah). Meanwhile, the late-for-the-train Helen winds up as a waitress and suffers through Gerry's ambiguous actions and constant waffling. What should have been a showcase for the charismatic Paltrow ends up as a dry exercise in "what ifs?" The film's main fault is its cut-and-paste characterizations. Helen is pretty and likable, but that's about all there is to her. Likewise, supersweet James is just that and nothing else. If this wasn't enough to deter from the film's novel idea, the dual realities presented are limply drawn out, uninteresting, and anticlimactic. A nice try by writer-director Howitt, but Sliding Doors should only receive credit for a mere attempt at innovation as opposed to its lackluster results.

--Mike Emery

Interviews
Sliding Doors

Full Length Reviews
Sliding Doors
Sliding Doors

Capsule Reviews
Sliding Doors
Sliding Doors
Sliding Doors

Film Vault Suggested Links
City of Angels
Twelve Monkeys
Open Your Eyes

Rate this Film
If you don't want to vote on a film yet, and would like to know how others voted, leave the rating selection as "Vote Here" and then click the Cast Vote button.