Sliding
Doors (1998) ...
There are two sides to every story. Helen is about to live both of them... at the same time. Romance was never this much fun.
| Released: | April 24th, 1998 |
| Running Time: | 99 minutes |
| Cast: | Gwyneth Paltrow, John Lynch, John Hannah |
| Writers: | Peter Howitt |
| Director: | Peter Howitt |
| My Rating | ***1/2 |
I love plots and movies that do something different and I particularly enjoyed Sliding Doors because I've often found myself wondering what the outcome would have been in my own life if one event or chance meeting or different decision was carried out to a different conclusion. Thus the idea of looking at a story where you get both stories was fascinating and kept my interest throughout.
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Sliding Doors is a 1998 film written and directed by former actor Peter Howitt. It starred Gwyneth Paltrow, John Lynch, John Hannah, Jeanne Tripplehorn and Virginia McKenna.
Plot
Spoiler warning: Plot and/or
ending details follow.
The film follows the life of Helen
(Paltrow), who is sacked from her public relations job. The film's plot splits
into two parallel universes which run in tandem. In one universe, Helen manages
to catch a London Underground train home on time, and in the other she misses
it. In the former, she gets home in time to catch her boyfriend (Lynch) in
flagrante delicto with his ex-girlfriend (Tripplehorn); she promptly dumps him,
and meets (and falls in love with) a new man (Hannah). In the latter, she
carries on oblivious in a miserable relationship after arriving home after her
boyfriend's lover has left.
Towards the end of both scenarios, she discovers she is pregnant with her respective partner's baby. In both timelines, she ends up in near-fatal accidents, gets taken to the hospital and loses her baby. In the scenario in which she catches the train, she dies in the arms of her newfound love. In the alternate scenario, Helen (knowing that her boyfriend has gotten his lover pregnant) tells him to leave her alone for good and while leaving the hospital runs into her alternate scenario's love interest, leaving the audience to speculate about the outcome of their meeting.
Trivia
* The film draws strongly from ideas in
Polish director Krzysztof Kieślowski's film Blind Chance, in which the fate of a
character also depends on him catching or missing a train, and in which the
(three) alternative lives are shown. Another 1998 film, Run Lola Run, also draws
on Blind Chance in its portrayal of three possible scenarios, driven by
chance.
* The theme of alternative lives resulting from a chance event is
reminiscent of J. B. Priestley's plays in the 1930's, particularly Dangerous
Corner.
* The scenes on the London Underground were filmed at Waterloo
station on the Waterloo & City Line and at Fulham Broadway tube station on
the District Line.
* The scenes by the river were filmed next to
Hammersmith Bridge and in the Blue Anchor pub in Hammersmith.
* British
singer Dido's song "Thank You" made its first appearance on the Sliding Doors
soundtrack, although it only became a hit three years later.
* It was a
commercial for this movie featuring "Thank You" as background music that
inspired rapper Eminem to use Dido's voice for his song, Stan.
* An
episode of Frasier was based on the premise for this movie, entitled "Sliding
Frasiers" (Season 8).
