Review: Sliding Doors (1998)

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Sliding Doors

Rating

Director

Peter Howitt

Screenplay

Peter Howitt

Length

1h 39m

Starring

Gwyneth Paltrow, John Hannah, John Lynch, Jeanne Tripplehorn, Zara Turner, Douglas McFerran, Paul Brightwell, Nina Young, Virginia McKenna, Kevin McNally

MPAA Rating

PG-13

Basic Plot

A woman is fired from her job and makes it to the elevator in time, but both catches and misses the subway. She’s split apart and allowed to view to different versions of the present.

Review

Ever wondered what might happen if you had the choice to do it all over again?

“Sliding Doors” comes close to answering that question. It’s not a matter of getting to choose which path you take, but taking both paths and seeing where they converge in the end.

Helen (Gwyneth Paltrow) is an advertising agent for a large company. She catches her morning coffee and makes it quickly to work. She’s a bit late, but apologetic. When she comes in she must explain her use of a few bottles of champagne to her employer. Some clients came in late Friday evening and didn’t have any available. She is, as expected, fired from her position and slinks out of the building.

When she arrives at the subway, a little child is blocking her rush down the stairs and misses the train. Then something magical occurs. She is whisked backwards, up the stairs and she is split in two. One has caught the train, the other has missed it. From there she follows to distinctly different paths through life.

The Helen that missed the subway leaves, tries to hail a taxi and someone tries to steal her purse, unsuccessfully, and the cabby takes her to the hospital where she spends a great deal of time. While she is doing this, her boyfriend, Gerry (John Lynch), is in bed with another woman, Lydia (Jeanne Tripplehorn). She happens to get home in time to miss this event and goes on living as if she’d never known.

In Helen’s other life, she catches the train and meets a nice man, James (John Hannah). She has a long conversation with him and then heads home. She arrives in time to catch him in the act. Depressed, she heads for a bar to drown her sorrows in alcohol where she calls her best friend, Anna (Zara Turner), to come and get her. While there, James is also present and strikes up a conversation with her and eventually helps her get home.

From there she experiences a life with a boyfriend, unaware of his affair, and seeing a new boyfriend, one she enjoys being with very much. In the end, however, her life must come together and all the heartaches that ensue during these two lives are hard to take, but a choice must be made.

“Sliding Doors” is a well thought out film. It’s interesting to say the least. Paltrow gives a rather stunning performance and Hannah makes for a wonderful romance. There is quite a bit of chemistry between the two and the relationship is bound to work.

The paralleling of stories is well done, but at times not enough. I expected far more coincidental passings of the two Helens, but there weren’t very many at all.

Lynch and Tripplehorn are rather unimpressive. Lynch is annoying and too Woody Allen-esque. Tripplehorn is easy to hate, but her character isn’t well defined at all. Turner is good, however. She captures the female friend perspective well and brings a bit of good humor to the film.

“Sliding Doors” is one of those films that women will love to see. It’s romantically charged and has all the earmarks of a great romance. It won’t much entice men into the theaters, but if any of the cast can do it, Paltrow can.