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Sliding Doors (1998) More at IMDb Pro »

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249 comments in total

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31 out of 39 people found the following comment useful :-
What a difference a few seconds can make?, 28 April 2004
Author: Old Joe from Hamilton, Australia

The romantic comedy, 'Sliding Doors', is a great look at how quickly a person's life can change in a matter of moments. By taking one path instead of another, forming a tantalizing 'what if?' In fact this movie gives the impression that some things are meant to be known, while some things are not.

London publicists Helen, is effortlessly sliding between parallel storylines that show what happens if she does or does not catch a morning train back to her apartment. Love. Romantic entanglements. Deception. Trust. Friendship. Comedy. All come into focus back and forth, overlap, then surprisingly converge in one of the great romantic comedy films in years.

Sliding doors is one of the best films that Gwyneth Paltrow has done. It has it all, humour, anger, sadness, love, compassion and a lot of lying. This movie is most special for the way the two storylines overlap, making this a very original movie. Paltrow's performance is grand as the 'hurt Helen' or the very 'naïve Helen', depending on which parts of the film you are watching. Some of her lines are priceless. Paltrow has had a very celebrated career in acting and of late singing and deserves all the accolades she gets. It was also refreshing to watch her in the murder thriller 'The perfect murder', along with screen legend Michael Douglas.

Yet there are some other great performances in this film. John Hannah was exceptional as the sensitive and understanding 'James', who is helping the 'hurt Helen' back to being her 'old self'. Then you have the cheating boy 'Jerry' played by John Lynch, who was using the 'naïve Helen' to live out a very adulterous and selfish lifestyle. It was very funny to see the way he handled the situation with Helen actually. Then to top it all off, we get a great performance from Jeanne Tripplehorn, who was Jerry's girlfriend on the side, who gives Jerry a very difficult time in both parts of the story.

This film also has an impressive soundtrack. With acts like Blair, the Brand New Heavies, Dodgy, Jamiroquai and the Space Monkeys. Yet there are two very famous parts to this soundtrack. One is Elton John, who is given a bad mention in the movie, when Jerry is caught in a most precarious of positions while playing the Elton John song, 'Honky Cat'. However the best song on the whole soundtrack comes from the band Aqua, with the tune 'Turn Back Time', which suited the film perfectly. The film clip to this song is also very good.

Sliding doors is one of those feel good movies, which can also make you feel sad as well. It shows how difficult life can be in a relationship and how important relationships can be as well. It also proves that relationships are extremely hard work and you need to find someone who you trust and love and that you get the same feelings back in return. If you want to see the good and bad sides of love take a look at this romantic classic.

CMRS gives 'Sliding Doors': 4.5 (Very Good- Brilliant Film)

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23 out of 27 people found the following comment useful :-
This movie is funny!, 28 November 1999

Author: ivmeer from Chicago, IL

I saw this movie on its opening night, despite lukewarm reviews. As my date and I watched the final credits, we looked at each other and said "well, the critics were certainly wrong!"

I'll briefly reiterate what everyone else has been saying...the premise is intriguing, the characters lovable (or hatable, as the case may be), and we're all pulling for Helen to ditch the jerk and get with the nice guy.

The thing people are failing to mention is how hilarious this movie is. It's really a light romantic comedy, besides all the "what if there really is a parallel universe?" questions we all are asking ourselves when we watch it. It's got some of the greatest and most quotable lines of any movie I know, and some really great laughs (such as Russel listening to Gerry's lamenting about his situation.)

I highly recommend this movie. You won't be disappointed.

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24 out of 30 people found the following comment useful :-
Undoubtedly one of my favourite films, 2 February 2005

Author: mjw2305 from England

Gwyneth Paltrow plays Helen Quilley, she works in Public Relations and is dating an idiot who is cheating on her (come on guys, would you?) After losing her job she heads home early, and the film then follows two Parallel realities, that cross over and intertwine in a very clever manner, that adds a great deal to the movies quality.

One way, she gets home and finds him cheating, and the other way she is mugged and her boyfriend gets away with it, at least for now.

In this wonderfully charming romantic comedy, great performances from, Paltrow, Lynch, Hannah and Tripplehorn plus a good script and some good laughs all add up to a movie i simply don't tire of. I can't quite put my finger on what it is, i just love it.

9/10 and a must for Paltrow Fans

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17 out of 23 people found the following comment useful :-
If I Had Just Waited, 7 November 2001
Author: Hitchcoc from United States

I am so enamored with this kind of film. How many people have asked the question after having an accident or chanced upon something, "If I had only left a minute later, none of this would have happened." Now we get into the who time continuum thing and parallel universes. I know this isn't a science fiction film, although a Twilight Zone episode may have fun with this plot. When we are dealing with the characters colliding through the fourth dimension, a whole different set of circumstances are put in motion. The reason we can never travel back in time (while forward is possible) is that time would then become mutable and what we are may no longer be and then we wouldn't travel back in time. Two roads diverge in a woods paraphrasing Robert Frost, but what if we could take each of those roads and see what happens. This movie is quite magical and does the best it can to get Gwyneth Paltrow through her parallel universes and see the things that one would see. I think the problem is that unless we get into quantum physics, it's hard for the average person to really reconcile these sorts of events. I thought the acting was very good and believe things as they unfurled. I would recommend this film if you like to think about the possibilities it envisions. Try it on yourself sometime and extrapolate your own existence from some fork in the road and imagine what may have been.

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6 out of 7 people found the following comment useful :-
Though life is like a sliding door, it closes one end but opens the other. the result is much alike., 23 July 2006
Author: crisp_morning_2004 from China

*** This comment may contain spoilers ***

Sliding doors is a film about fate in a woman's love life. "Fate" is Yuan Fen in Chinese.

Arriving at work one morning, Helen found herself unjustifiably sacked from her PR job. When she headed back down to the tube, life was spit into two realities.Helen was about to live both of them.

In one reality, she caught the tube train. On her way home, she came across a guy named James who was impressed by her casual elegance at the first sight. She got home earlier than usual, only to find her Lothario boyfriend Gerry in bed with his ex-girlfriend, Lydia. So she went to the bar to drink down her sorrows of being sacked and cheated. There she met James again. Though at first, she demurred. But soon she recognized James began to be endeared to her by his sense of humor and being very concerted. They fell in love with each other. her boyfriend wanted to win Helen back. She was in a dilemma. But soon she found that Lydia and Gerry still dated each other on the sly and was over him totally. What a disaster it was when she detected that James was a married man. Everything got clear by the end of the film. They hugged each other again. Helen wanted to make a call to her best friend Anna to relieve her worry about her. Just at the moment, a trunk ran into her. She was sent to hospital and miscarried the baby she had with James. James was quite regretful. He whispered at Helen that he would give happiness to her all his life. The ending is quite soothing.

In the other reality, she missed the tube and got mugged. When arrived home, finding his bf in a shower. And continued the relationship. She got two part-time jobs as a food deliverer and a bar maid Things got doubtful. Gerry seemed nervous and worried in fear of being detected his torrid relationship with Lydia. He found Lydia was quite demanding. And Helen began to be skeptical. He couldn't balance between them. One day, Helen got a new offer and went there to have the interview, only to find her boyfriend was there too with her would-be boss Lydia. She rushed down stairs, in the struggling with her bf, she fell down and was sent to the same hospital at the same time as the Helen did in the first scenario. She miscarried and was over her bf completely. She went out the ward, went into the lift. A guy named James happened to see his mother in hospital and on the same lift. She dropped the earring. James picked it up for her. They stared each other as if they met some time ago when Helen said "Nobody expects the Spanish Inquisition" which was James's favorite quote on the above situation.

It seems fate has been predetermined, especially in love matters. No matter u miss the tube or not, u will meet James, the man who will fall in love with u. No matter u meet James or not, U will find your bf's affairs with Lydia.. Though life is like a sliding door, it closes one end but opens the other. the result is much alike.

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10 out of 15 people found the following comment useful :-
Unique and Natural, 11 November 1999

Author: vibeke-2 from Utah, USA

This film is a lightweight comedy/drama with a unique story. Although Gwyneth Paltrow plays the same character in both aspects of the story, both Helens seem completely different. The flow of the story seems quite natural and the cast does a wonderful job going through the twists and turns of their characters lives. It's a chick flick with none of the sap.

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5 out of 6 people found the following comment useful :-
Just a Matter of a Few Seconds, 21 February 2008
Author: Flekkzy from Fraggle Rock

*** This comment may contain spoilers ***

'Sliding Doors' tells two stories of the same character/s. It uses the concept of time by showing what a significant difference a few seconds can make in ones life. In a nutshell, it's about Helen, a young publicist' who's just been sacked. The story divides into two as an upset Helen rushes to catch the metro on her way home. The first story starts with Helen missing the metro and the second story starts with her catching the metro. Both stories overlap at times but in spite of following a novel concept, the screenplay disappoints to an extent. Some of the 'turn of events' look very forced. For example, the scene where Helen gets mugged in residential area during broad daylight, and James's wife suddenly appearing are unbelievable. The soundtrack is quite pleasing to the ears. Gwyneth Paltrow does a commendable job acting-wise. However, her diction is poor. The accent would have sounded more convincing if she had the right intonation and speed. John Hannah and John Lynch lend adequate support (even though there characters are a little clichéd). Jeanne Tripplehorn is brilliant as the bad American girl. 'Sliding Doors' would have made for a better film if the loose ends were pulled a little tighter but it qualifies for a decent one time watch.

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11 out of 18 people found the following comment useful :-
A Delightful Romance, With a Wonderful Screenplay, 2 April 2005

Author: Claudio Carvalho from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

In London, the public relation Helen (Gwyneth Paltrow) is fired from her position in a PR company. While returning home, she does not catch the train in the subway. But in another possibility of her life, she catches the train in the subway. The story shows two parallel lives of Helen: in one life, she stays with her boyfriend Gerry (John Lynch), and in the other life, she finds that Gerry cheats her with Lydia (Jeanne Tripplehorn) and falls in love with James Hammerton (John Hannah). "Sliding Doors" is a delightful romance, with a wonderful screenplay. There are excellent lines, and the chemistry between Gwyneth Paltrow and John Hannah is marvelous. John Lynch is a good actor, but is completely miscast in the role of a man disputed by two gorgeous women. I have just watched this movie for the third time, and I still love it. It is very interesting that in 1998, two movies presented similar concepts of different situations depending on a minor event: "Sliding Doors" and "Lola Rennt". This theme is fascinating, but there are many unfair reviews of this film in IMDb, which is one of my favorite movie. My vote is ten.

Title (Brazil): "De Caso com o Acaso" ("Having an Affair With Fortune")

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5 out of 7 people found the following comment useful :-
Where was I when this film first appeared, 15 May 2006

Author: (normangelman@verizon.net) from Washington, D.C.

I don't remember reading a thing about this movie when it originally appeared, and that's odd because I enjoy Gwyneth Paltrow's work. I caught up with it on DVD, and I thought it was a superior movie with an extremely interesting premise and splendid performances by Paltrow's co-stars. Without giving too much away, the film deals with two separate scenarios that evolve from Paltow's (a) catching or (b) missing a subway train. The director manages skillfully to lay the two stories down alongside one another without confusing either one. Although the two Paltrows are distinguished by different hair styles, even that isn't really necessary. She (becomes) happy in one story, desperately unhappy in the other. She succeeds (eventually) in one story, fails in the other. She is the same character but entirely different. As she proved in "Shakespeare in Love," this girl can act. There aren't many films where chance causes alternate fates that are followed through to a rather surprising end. Worth seeing for that reason alone. Plus Gwyneth Paltrow, of course.

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7 out of 11 people found the following comment useful :-
Something different but sadly, nothing great, 28 June 2006

Author: Mr Ben from Hampshire, England

It seems difficult, for me anyway, to imagine Gwyneth Paltrow as anything other than the wife of Coldplay front-man Chris Martin. She seems as famous for giving her children strange names as she is for her acting career, which seems to have stalled in recent years. But go back to 1998 and she seemed to be everywhere, normally playing an English character. This, arguably, is her finest hour as this is a romantic movie with a rare intelligence and a daring approach to telling its story.

Paltrow plays Helen, a twenty-something PR executive living with her writer-boyfriend Gerry (John Lynch) in London. One day, she goes into work to find out that she's been fired. Distressed, she goes to catch a Tube train back home and it's at this point that the film takes an unusual twist. First, we see Helen board the train and then a second Helen misses it. The film then continues telling Helen's story from both angles which run simultaneously, showing how much can change after such a simple difference.

"Sliding Doors" is to be commended for daring to do something different, basically providing two films for the price of one. Unfortunately, neither film is a runaway success. It's only when they intersect and cross each other's paths that you appreciate the film for what it is. Paltrow works hard in the dual lead roles but the only real difference between the two Helens are their haircuts. Keeping pace with both stories at the same time is tricky, at first, but all the more rewarding when you get your head around it. Her co-stars, Lynch and John Hannah, are less impressive. Lynch is suitably slimy as Helen's boyfriend while Hannah comes across exactly like a Scottish Hugh Grant, stammering in all the right places and getting suitably tongue-tied at the right moments. The other problem I have with "Sliding Doors" is that it isn't a side-splitting romantic comedy. It has its moments, though I can't think any at the moment. It's more of a serious study into relationships than a hilarious dual-layered comedy - it's not exactly "There's Something About Mary", still my favourite rom-com.

There aren't many films like "Sliding Doors" out there. Rom-coms aren't known for being intelligent and different but this film deserves attention for trying to break free from the usual conventions. Unfortunately, it's not a great film - it feels far longer than its 100 minute duration and it isn't as entertaining as it should be. I also felt it had a strong anti-men feel to it as the few male characters in the film are either spineless worms, lying cheaters or leering lager louts. Even the bitchy ex (Jeanne Tripplehorn), despite being a thoroughly nasty piece of work, gets a smoother ride than the men. It's definitely a chick-flick (like most of my Better Half's DVD collection) but I would still just about recommend "Sliding Doors", purely because it's a refreshing change from the norm. I just think that it could have been so much better - there is so much potential here, writer/director Peter Howitt doesn't quite know what to do with it. Persevere and maybe watch it twice, in case you don't get it the first time.

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