Sliding Doors

UPC: 097363357674

Studio: Paramount

MPAA Rating: PG13   Contains:[Questionable for Children, Adult Language, Sexual Situations]

Summary: British actor Peter Howitt wrote and directed this British romantic comedy-drama with a "road not taken" premise recalling the 1921 play If by Lord Dunsany (1878-1957), Frank Capra's It's a Wonderful Life (1946), and O.Henry's short story Roads of Destiny (1909). Howitt's storyline branches in two directions: Helen (Gwyneth Paltrow) loses her job at a classy London PR firm, has a run-in with a purse-snatcher, and just misses catching her boyfriend Gerry (John Lynch) in bed with his former girlfriend Lydia (Jeanne Tripplehorn). But what if it were one of those days when everything goes right? As the sliding doors close while she stands on a subway platform in the London underground, Helen ponders the events in her alternate reality. The plot of Lord Dunsany's If also hinges on a future determined by catching or missing a train. Sliding Doors was shown at the 1998 Sundance Film Festival. ~ Bhob Stewart, Rovi

Category: Comedy Drama

Features: ccWidescreen version
Dolby Digital: English 5.1 Surround; English Dolby Surround
Spanish subtitles
English captions
Interactive menus
Scene selection

Sliding Doors

Format: DVD

Release Date: 12/01/1998

Audio: DD5.1 Dolby Digital 5.1, DDS Dolby Digital Surround

Runtime: 99 Minutes

Sides: 1

Number of Discs: 1

Language(s) English

Subtitles: Spanish

Region: USA & territories, Canada

Chapters: Side #1 --
1. "So I'm Out, Am I?"
2. The Train
3. Lydia
4. Close Call
5. Getting Pissed
6. A Change of Image
7. Suspicion
8. James' Idea
9. "You Can't Leave Her for Me?"
10. Helen Block
11. A Lapse of Concentration
12. "I Miss You"
13. Limbo Central
14. Never Go Back
15. Nervous Humor
16. Late
17. The Truth Revealed
18. "Will She Be Ok?"
19. End Titles

Derek Armstrong

The premise of Sliding Doors is instantly appealing, since everyone wonders how his or her life might have turned out differently as a result of different choices. So imagine the mind-bending realization that even missing the Tube by two seconds could alter the trajectory just as radically. It is indeed radical for Gwyneth Paltrow, once again affecting a mostly flawless British accent, whose character ends up with a whole new hair color, career focus, and beau, depending on who's influencing her thoughts -- her sensible girlfriend or the cheating bloke she didn't quite catch with his pants down. Having the two Paltrows inhabit the same London is clever, though it begs unanswered questions about whether the film posits a supernatural dual reality, or a second reality that's only imagined. Fresh enough to still disappear into a role, Paltrow has a fun time with her alternately playful and pissed off Helen. John Hannah exudes good will and charm (especially when he's rattling off Monty Python) and Douglas McFerran steals each of his scenes as the best mate of John Lynch's philanderer. Faced with a new ridiculous scenario each time Lynch meets him at the pub, McFerran dissolves into hysterical derisive laughter any time he tries to give advice. The one distasteful ingredient is Jeanne Tripplehorn's American "other woman," whose brassy scheming sabotages the relative subtlety of the rest of this flight of fancy. ~ Derek Armstrong, Rovi

Cast and Crew: William Horberg  Producer 
Sydney Pollack  Producer 
Nigel Sinclair  Executive Producer 
Guy East  Executive Producer 
Philippa Braithwaite  Producer 
David Hirschfelder  Composer (Music Score) 
Peter Howitt  Director 
Peter Howitt  Screenwriter 
Gwyneth Paltrow  Actor 
John Hannah  Actor 
John Lynch  Actor 
Jeanne Tripplehorn  Actor 
Zara Turner  Actor 
Douglas McFerran  Actor 
Paul Brightwell  Actor 
Nina Young  Actor 
Virginia McKenna  Actor 

Country: UK,USA