SLIDING DOORS

INTRODUCTION: A romantic comedy written and directed by Joey from (s)hit 80's sitcom Bread may not sound thrilling but it is in fact surprisingly adequate. 

SYNOPSIS: Harassed PR Executive Helen (Paltrow) has enough to put up with in her life, recently fired, accused of theft and the dodgiest English accent since the great Dick Van Dyke put lip to line in "Mary Poppins", the last thing she needs is to arrive home to find her boyfriend in bed with the brunette from Basic Instinct (Tripplehorn). Fortunately for her she misses the train, or does she? You see, from this point on the film goes two ways. We follow the Gwenyth who caught the train and arrived home in time to watch her boyfriend's antics and we also follow the parallel life of the Gwenyth who missed the train and got mugged (and is thus able to wear a prominent bandage until the other Gwenyth can get her hair died blonde). Are you following all this? Doesn't matter, blonde Gwenyth goes on to find love and success, while Bandaged Gwenyth is ground further and further underfoot. 

REVIEW: Everyone seems happy until they start trying to do the right thing. The film is reminiscent of one of De Sade's early morality tales, preaching as it does the rewards of vice and the punishments of virtue, right through to the overuse of coincidence and the typical Sadeian finale (OK maybe without the van). 
Paltrow and Hannah are suitably charming, building up an impressive chemistry over the course of their restrained (a rare factor in modern movie relationship) courtship. Lynch and Tripplehorn are irritating above and beyond the call of duty. OK, so you're not supposed to like them, but you're not supposed to be overwhelmed with the incredible desire to storm out of the cinema and demand your money back every time that they appear on screen. Howitt himself puts in a brief guest appearance and for once doesn't leave halfway through and get another actor in to replace him. 

Fate is of course the lead character in this, as in any rom-com, which is a shame because I don't believe in fate. I know it's unfashionable but I am, I'm afraid, an existentialist. Completely rejecting Camus' "absurd" notion this film offers the view of life, in which everything happens for a purpose and it all works out in the end. My rejection of fate, however, just leaves the plot looking like an extraordinary string of coincidences with little, if any, basis in reality. But if you're one of those people that knows that your ideal life partner is out there waiting for you in a lift or on the tube, or like Camus' most famous hero Mersault you enjoy banal movies, then you'll probably get an uplifting kick out of this one. I, for example, was greatly uplifted when I realised that there was a parallel me out there somewhere that managed to miss out on sitting through this (e)motion picture. 

Mildly inoffensive British rom-com. You know the type. 

Mutts Rating: *** 

Home | Reviews | Reputations | Contact the Lizard