Year of Release: 1998
Director: Peter Howitt
Starring: Gwyneth Paltrow, John Hannah, John Lynch, Jeanne Tripplehorn, Zara Turner, Douglas McFerran, Paul Brightwell, Kevin McNally, Nina Young
Score out of ten (whole numbers only): 4
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Synopsis and Review
"Sliding Doors" premiered at the Sundance Film Festival of 1998, and it was one of 5 (!) feature film releases that had Gwyneth Paltrow as a lead during that year alone (the other being "Shakespeare in Love", "Hush", "Great Expectations", and "A Perfect Murder"). It was also Peter Howitt's feature directorial debut, after an already established career as an actor. The film focuses on the story of Helen, a young woman working in PR in London, who immediately suffers a setback at the beginning of the narrative: she's fired/let go very dramatically by her bosses. On her way back home the story has a bifurcation: on one part of the story, Helen catches the subway, and on the other she does not. The Helen who catches the subway briefly chats with James, a man she casually meets in the same carriage, about what just happened to her. James makes her smile. She comes home to find her live-in boyfriend fooling around on her with an American woman he had previously dated. Helen who did not catch the subway on time, comes home after the tryst has already happened, and is inquiring Gerry, her boyfriend, why there are liquor glasses in their bedroom. While the first Helen moves out of the apartment, and moves in with her best friend Anna, deciding to change her visual, and start her own business, the second Helen tries to make ends meet by working multiple jobs, one of them as a waitress, the other as a caterer, all this to also support Gerry, who is a writer and does not work for a living. The first Helen also strikes a relationship with James, who turns out to be funny, kind, and insightful, whereas Gerry tries to ingratiate himself with her since the relationship with Lydia isn't going anywhere. These parallel threads come to a halt when Helen(s) suffer an accident, and she suddenly realizes decisions have to be made.
One can't help but realize that as "Sliding Doors" goes on (and on), that the events taking place are eerily similar to any plot that could have easily been illustrated in any soap opera, from whatever country you pick. The film thankfully isn't pretentious and the writer/director doesn't attempt to do a more straightforward version of "The Double Life of Veronique" which is one of Krzysztof Kieslowski's masterpieces, but the path Mr. Howitt chooses to take is a rather banal one, that also seems underdeveloped since Helen remains elusive and under-developed for the entire duration of the narrative. It's startling to realize that for once the supporting characters seem to have a bit more of backstory and motivation, than the actual lead character does. Both James and Gerry get a chance to have more of their lives and motivations flushed out, whereas Helen feels more reactive to whatever the situations are presenting at her, and we never get to understand where's her family, what motivates her to stay with Gerry, or even how she found herself in that particular professional path of hers. While the film does provide a slice of her life, in that particular time frame, it simply feels under-developed, with plenty of narrative gaps and filled with tropes that feel quite dated. The cast is solid, though Gwyneth Paltrow with the brunette wig, trying to portray a waitress/caterer, simply doesn't work, she's not particularly convincing as a working class/Mike Leigh inspired character. Her other version, blonde with the fancier haircut, seems closer to her comfort zone, and she's more convincing there. She gets solid support from John Hannah, John Lynch (whose character Gerry, though a loser, seems like a magnet for beautiful women), and the always solid Jeanne Tripplehorn (who tries really hard to convince us that looking like she does, she has a deep desire for someone with Gerry's moral compass and professional abilities!!). The production team is solid, though Remi Adefarasin's cinematography is a bit washed out (the work he did for Shekhar Kapur's "Elizabeth" was far more inspired). It's not a particularly inspired film, and one that is ultimately quite forgettable.
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