Review
Tera Roberson
Staff Writer
As you approach the road you travel on your daily commute home, you are detoured by a construction worker with a "Road Closed" sign. You follow the detour, only to be run off the road by a Mack truck at the next block.
If only the road hadn't been closed, you say, wondering what would have happened.
Helen is about to find out just what can happen.
Gwyneth Paltrow stars in Sliding Doors, a romantic comedy that examines how one seemingly small event can drastically change a person's life forever.
The idea for Sliding Doors was inspired by the near-death experience of first-time writer/director Peter Howitt. As he walked along London's Charing Cross Road, he was nearly struck by a passing car. Howitt realized how his life might have been changed in that split second.
From that moment, Howitt knew he had a great idea for a film, and he began making calls.
Although he had previously written comedy sketches and directed two short films, Howitt faced a challenge in Sliding Doors because it is essentially two films in one.
The film follows Helen's life down two totally different paths at the same time. Both are results of one small moment of chance that happens on the way home from work.
In one, Helen leaves her job and catches the subway home to find her boyfriend, Gerry (John Lynch), cheating with his ex, played by Jeanne Tripplehorn.
In the other situation presented, Helen misses the train and catches a cab home, but she misses walking in on her philandering boyfriend and his ex.
The storyline is so great and realistic because we have all, at one time or another, spent time wondering, "What if?" The film neatly and entertainingly explores that one premise.
Although Gerry is a despicable character in the film, Lynch is very convincing as the confused boyfriend. As the other woman, Tripplehorn brings a great amount of drama and intensity to the story.
Helen is pretty, witty and naive all at the same time. Paltrow's beauty and simplicity are spellbinding, and those qualities make Helen all the more lovable. You can't take your eyes off her at any point during the film.
Paltrow's co-star, John Hannah, who plays one of her love interests in the film, admitted he had preconceived notions about his leading lady before he met her.
"She's very high profile. I kind of expected wrongly that there might be some sort of baggage that comes along with somebody in that position. She's under a lot of pressure. She's kind of pursued by the press," he said of his initial thoughts on working with Paltrow. Hannah's notions changed, though, when he met his co-star.
"She was a real delight to work with. She was just like one of the guys, she just comes there for work. She was a lot of fun to work with and also she was incredible professionally."
Paltrow's accent was perfect. There was never an opportunity to say, "Ah hah, got you," because she never messed up. It was so good she impressed even her leading man, whose own accent is nearer to British.
"I'm Scottish, so I'm a lot closer to English than she is, and she does a better English accent that I could have done," Hannah said.
Although dubbed a romantic comedy, the film could definitely stand alone as a comedy. From one-liners in the pub, to girlfriend-to-girlfriend talks, Sliding Doors lets the audience in on the laughs.
Sliding Doors is funny and suspenseful all at once. A simple love story that happens by chance, it ends as something uniquely inspiring and refreshing.
Rated
R
Running Time
105 min
Playing
At local theaters