THE AISLE SEAT - "SLIDING DOORS"
by Mike McGranaghan
Sliding Doors is a winning romantic comedy with an ingenious premise. Gwyneth Paltrow stars as Helen, a young woman who lives and works in London. After getting fired from her job, she dejectedly heads for the subway that will take her home. The subway doors, however, close just before she gets to them. Then we see the same scene all over again - except this time she just barely gets through the doors before they close. The rest of the film cuts back and forth to show what would happen in Helen's life following both scenarios. The sliding doors of the train mark a crucial point in her life: missing or catching the train will lead to different results.
When Helen catches the train, she meets James (John Hannah), a charming stranger who tries to cheer her up, to no avail. Then she arrives home and finds her boyfriend Gerry (John Lynch) in bed with another woman, Lydia (Jeanne Tripplehorn). Heartbroken, Helen branches out on her own, dying her hair blonde and opening her own business. And although Gerry begs to win her back, it is James who now has her attention. The funny guy from the train comes back into her life and treats her with respect.
When Helen misses the train, she of course never meets James and never catches Gerry in bed with Lydia. The charade goes on, with Helen suspecting that something is wrong, but never having proof.
Sliding Doors goes back and forth between the two stories, allowing the audience to see how differently things work out. There are quite a few surprises in the plot, and it's interesting the way the movie springs them on us, never making one outcome worse than the other (until the very end, when we see that one path ultimately is better for Helen). There are advantages and disadvantages to both possible outcomes, and as the stories unfold simultaneously, we realize how much of Helen's life will be determined by the doors.
Writer/director Peter Howitt has devised an interesting way of exploring an idea most of us have probably considered at one time or another. Sometimes you just have to wonder how your life has been made different because of choices you have made. Or how things might have been better if only circumstances had played out another way. Or how a seemingly innocuous event changed the path you were on. Sliding Doors is really a film about fate, specifically the way things that are out of our control affect us on a daily basis.
Another interesting thing is that, while the story is set in London, it is an American actress who has the lead role. This is Gwyneth Paltrow's third film this year (following the underrated Great Expectations and the disappointing Hush). She has an unexpected talent for the English accent - she also used it in the outstanding adaptation of Jane Austen's Emma - and, to her credit, I totally forgot that she was even doing an accent. Paltrow is totally convincing in the role, funny and likable. Some of her past movies haven't provided a chance to display the range of her abilities, but that's not the case here. Although the two Helens wind up on different roads, Paltrow shows how both are different sides of the same woman. This is really one of the best performances of the year.
Paltrow's chemistry with John Hannah (he read the poem at his best friend's wake in Four Weddings and a Funeral) is terrific. Both have a kind of low-key charm, even in their characters' more flamboyant moments. I enjoyed watching them together and quickly became invested in their relationship. I should also add that, although he's technically the villain of the piece, John Lynch also gives a good performance. Gerry is a liar and a cheat, but Lynch shows you that there's some good in the guy, too. He's more complex than your stereotypical movie jerk.
Sliding Doors is a movie that I will eventually see again. The "what if...?" questions it poses were so interesting that at times my attention was diverted; I started thinking about the sliding doors in my own life. Normally, only bad movies make me think about something else as I watch them, but in this case, the film wants you to apply its ideas to yourself. It rewards multiple viewings for this very reason. Sliding Doors is one of my favorite films so far this year. Not many pictures entertain you so thoroughly while still giving you something meaningful to ponder.
(
1/2 out of four)
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