Rating: 
Summary: What If?
Review: This is a great, feel good romantic comedy, that has a great cast and also unusually leaves you thinking, albiet not that hard. Also it one of the few movies (the only Romantic Comedy) that I can watch over and over without getting bored with it.Gwyneth Paltrow plays the lead role of Helen, who in plot version 1 misses her tube train as the door slides closed in front of her nose (hence the title) and carries on with her mundane life. In the alter version she catches her train, meets John Hannah (movie nice guy) and gets home to find John Lynch (Gerry) her jerk boyfriend in bed with his bit on the side (English expression). Gerry is an awesome character, a totally loathsome whining toad that you just love to hate. The two plot versions run in parallel throughout the movie, but due to different hair styles for Helen it is a simple matter to follow along without getting a migrane. I must warn you that there is a twist at the end that you may not like as it differs from the usual R Comedy formula. Cast performances are really good, Paltrow does a creditable British accent, which is important to me being a Brit. Hannah is great as always and I thought John Lynch was excellent. The thinking part? Oh you just keep wondering What If I?
Rating: 
Summary: Do you like your Paltrow with light hair or dark?
Review: Two things are essential if you want to watch this movie. One, you have to like Gwyneth Paltrow, because you're going to see a lot of her; and two, it helps to be a girl. Since I only half qualify I am not the best audience for this corny, but clever, three-quarters cute, romantic comedy. Most of it is standard faire: London girl Helen (Paltrow) has to choose between puppy-eyed loser Gerry (John Lynch) and Good Guy James (John Hannah). Circumstances make the Good Guy look bad while the puppy-eyed loser pouts real well and looks emotionally helpless, so it's tough on our good girl, who's kind of like a Brit Mary Tyler Moore for the nineties. But "she's gonna find true love." Count on it. It's just that there's an hour and a half of misdirection before she does. Paltrow isn't able to display anything close to her full range here, even though the film amounts to a vehicle for her. The clever plot idea is to show her life under one set of circumstances (she misses the train and doesn't meet James) and "a road not taken" (she catches the train and does meet James) in alternating cuts. Surprisingly it works fairly well. To keep us from getting confused, her hair goes short and blonde in one set and long and dark in the other. I like her better with dark hair. She looks more glamorous. I was surprised to notice that back-to-back adoring reviews on Amazon were written by eleven and twelve-year-old girls. When I think about it, that's kind of nice, since this is a sweet movie and those tough little critics are an appropriate audience (along with me, I guess), and this is an advisory tale about the nature of men, illustrating that you have to be careful about whom you choose when you're following your heart. Most fun in the movie is the dirty deeds done by Lydia, (Jeanne Tripplehorn) Helen's rival for Gerry. To humiliate working girl Helen she has her deliver sandwiches and then claims she got food poisoning. To really trash her, Lydia sends her on a phony job interview at her apartment in time to catch her with weasel-willed Gerry while announcing that she's pregnant by same. Our girl's knees buckle, but she stands tall through all the heart-break.
Rating:
Summary: Two seconds is all it takes...
Review: Gwyneth Paltrow gives a winning performance playing both sides of the same character in this classic "What if?" tale of a young woman whose life may or may not take a radical departure, depending on whether or not she misses her train. Paltrow plays Helen, depressed because she's just been fired from her job, heading into the Underground in London to get the train home. She may or may not make her train, depending on whether or not a toddler gets in her way as she's dashing down the stairs. If she makes the train, she'll be just in time to catch her cheating boyfriend in the act and she'll dump the creep once and for all. If she doesn't, he's off the hook and he'll keep on stringing her along. "Sliding Doors" plays both sides of the story; we see Helen walking in on her boyfriend and his other woman in her own bed; ditching him and the wretched life she leads with him, finding a new job as a publicist and a new love in James, a handsome young man with a secret of his own. Again, we see Helen missing the train, coming home minutes after her boyfriend has gotten his "other" safely out of the flat he shares with Helen (and which, incidentally, Helen is paying the rent on), and continuing her drab "plain Jane" existence working part-time in a sandwich shop. Not until near the movie's end do we find out if Helen missed her train or not. Paltrow is excellent as both halves of Helen, and John Hannah is very good as James. I especially liked Jeanne Tripplehorn as the other woman, Lydia, lonely and vulnerable under all her pseudo-sophistication, who finally takes matters into her own hands when Gerry refuses to fall off either side of the fence. But the big laugh in this film is John Lynch as Gerry, the no-good louse who cheats on Helen and Lydia while he lives off both of them. Gerry is such a whining creep that his best friend laughs in his face as he relates his tale of woe; he wants it both ways and the world is unfair because he can't have his cake and eat it too. All we can do is wonder what in the world Helen and Lydia see in this loser. The film ends pretty much predictably but it's fun to watch. It's not a very profound film in any sense, but as a romantic comedy it's eminently satisfying.
Rating:
Summary: A real gem full of surprises !
Review: What can say ? I've seen this extremely funny and intelligently romantic movie about a dozen times after seeing it in the theater (and that's for lack of time) and I'm still not bored with it. I've shown it to people of all ages and both sexes and they all loved it. The "What if she had caught the rain?" becoming reality principle is not plausible of course but the rest of the movie is extremelly realistic. Gwyneth is absolutely perfect, John Hannah delivers more one-liners than you could think of and yet never sounds contrived, his total lovability and his accent turn him into this so obvious babe. Jeanne Tripplehorn is cast in this very unrewarding role, yet -in one very memorable monologue especially- she manages to give it more than one "evil" dimension. In fact, all supporting roles are extremelly well-crafted and allow the movie never to see its pace slow down. I should add that the first time I saw it I was wondering how the story would fall back on its feet in the end and I was so pleased to see how they had dealt with it. Thumbs up ! and thank you for this little gem.
Rating:
Summary: Compelling circumstances. 16th april 2004.
Review: Gwyneth paltrow, is quite interesting in this film. It makes out that if she had got on the train what would of happened and if you hadn't, what she would of done then. It is like 2 different compelling ways. One minute it shows the man she would of met on the train and her life that way, and if she had gone the other way she would of been with her boyfriend. She leaves him part way through the film, and it keeps going back then she is still with him in the other direction. COMPELLING 2 SIDES OF HER LIFE, GOING BACK AND FORWARD BRILL FILM.
Rating:
Summary: Interesting twist on the "What if" scenario
Review: THE ACTING WAS GREAT, THE STORY A BIT ONE SIDED:
Gwyneth Paltrow and Jean Tripplehorn do an excellent job pulling off duel roles for the same character in this romantic/comedy/drama. The leading men are equally charming in both their particular ways. (Tongue in cheek here). The story line is creative as well, but more could have been done a little less extremely. The characters are very one-sided and could have been more creatively handled. BASIC IDEA, WE ALL WONDER WHAT IF:
How many times do we have an opportunity to have an insignificant event play an important point in our life, that we don't even realize the significance. This was the fundamental thrust in the movie. Timing. What forces out there guide (or not) our lives? How much is chance and how much is destiny? If you believe the director/writer in this story, only one path works. This was the part I didn't like. BASIC STORY:
Gwyneth Paltrow's character is involved with a two timing boyfriend, who's lack of character and overbearing mistress dominate both their lives. Due to a minor change in timing one version takes Gwyneth's character out of his life. In the other scenerio, she falls prey to her unconfirmed doubts. Both of their lives continue and the story ends at another crossroads. I can't say more without giving it away. However, I think the director, could have handled it a bit more creatively and even handedly. DARK VERSUS LIGHT:
The comedy is dark in some situations as you see how manipulated and domineered Gwyneth's character becomes by her situation, while remaining in the louse of a boyfriend's life. Ironically, the darker scenario, her hair is dark. And the lighter (kind of) scenario, her hair is light. In this situation once she gets on with her life with another man, the comedy is light and whimsical. A bit too obvious however. The drudge versus the successful working woman HATED SOME OF THE ENDING:
The only major flaw I find in the movie is the ending. This was a bit too much. Is this the directors punishment for all the strong determined woman out there, who have dumped their louses? What were you thinking? Shame on you. It was an interesting movie that was at time a bit predictable at times but enjoyable none the less. One wonderfully hysterical part of it was the dialogue between Jerry and his (sympathetic?) mate at the bar. How many louses expect sympathy for their situation. This guy was for real. Also, the British humor was wonderful. What does bollux mean?
Rating:
Summary: A Sparkling Little Gem
Review: I adore this charming little gem of a movie in so many ways that I can't even begin to count all the ways. I liked this movie so much that I didn't even mind Gwyneth Paltrow's rather annoying nasaly faux-British accent. I have a "thang" (I'm from the south) for parallel universes, multi-dimensions, doppelgangers, and all that meta and non-meta physics stuff that my wee brain finds too complex to grasp yet I understood it just fine in this flick. It did help that the filmmakers created a different look for both Gwyneths - so much easier to tell them apart and keep up with the story line. Gwyneth the Dark doesn't realize that her lazy (...) boyfriend is fooling around on her, so she slaves away trying to keep him in comfort so he can write his great imaginary novel. Gwyneth the Fair, on the other hand, discovers the rat in the pudding earlier on so she gets to move on with her life, find Mr. Right, a fabulous career, and a stylish new 'do to boot. Well, I won't tell you the ultimate fates of this two ladies except to say one is happy and one is sad. I highly recommend this to anyone who favors a bit of a twist in their movie romances and for those who do not like being confused.
Rating: 
Summary: Decent romcom
Review: The kind of the film you can watch once quite happily, but wouldn't want to see over and over again. Well-acted, occasionally cheesy, occasionally irritating, occasionally a little cliched. The basic concept is original and a potentially confusing concept is handled well, if a little bit obviously. The ending slightly annoyed me - I won't say why, because it would involve completely giving it away. Its engaging at least, and I don't agree that there's only one dimension to the two men in it - I think they both have flaws and strengths, although the balance is clearly different between the two. Hannah is amiable and quirkily watchable, though occasionally irritatingly charming. John Lynch does his job as a fairly straightforward, semi-comic character. Paltrow herself is never emotionally deep, relying instead on traditional techniques, but functional for what essentially is a pretty lightweight film - not in a bad way, but in an accesible, enjoyable kind of way. This said, you could make a far more intelligent and thought-provoking film from the initial concept, potentially, especially if there was less sap involved. For what it is, though, Sliding Doors pretty much hits the mark.
Rating:
Summary: Buy it for the originality and for Paltrow
Review: Buy this movie if you like Paltrow and if you like originality and creativity in the story / plot of a movie. The little details of this movie is not as well made as I'd hope it would it, but just for Paltrow and the plot, it is definitely worthy to watch this movie. Paltrow has superb performance. She is down to earth, honest, straight forward, and lovely in the movie.
Rating:
Summary: Two seconds is all it takes...
Review: Gwyneth Paltrow gives a winning performance playing both sides of the same character in this classic "What if?" tale of a young woman whose life may or may not take a radical departure, depending on whether or not she misses her train. Paltrow plays Helen, depressed because she's just been fired from her job, heading into the Underground in London to get the train home. She may or may not make her train, depending on whether or not a toddler gets in her way as she's dashing down the stairs. If she makes the train, she'll be just in time to catch her cheating boyfriend in the act and she'll dump the creep once and for all. If she doesn't, he's off the hook and he'll keep on stringing her along. "Sliding Doors" plays both sides of the story; we see Helen walking in on her boyfriend and his other woman in her own bed; ditching him and the wretched life she leads with him, finding a new job as a publicist and a new love in James, a handsome young man with a secret of his own. Again, we see Helen missing the train, coming home minutes after her boyfriend has gotten his "other" safely out of the flat he shares with Helen (and which, incidentally, Helen is paying the rent on), and continuing her drab "plain Jane" existence working part-time in a sandwich shop. Not until near the movie's end do we find out if Helen missed her train or not. Paltrow is excellent as both halves of Helen, and John Hannah is very good as James. I especially liked Jeanne Tripplehorn as the other woman, Lydia, lonely and vulnerable under all her pseudo-sophistication, who finally takes matters into her own hands when Gerry refuses to fall off either side of the fence. But the big laugh in this film is John Lynch as Gerry, the no-good louse who cheats on Helen and Lydia while he lives off both of them. Gerry is such a whining creep that his best friend laughs in his face as he relates his tale of woe; he wants it both ways and the world is unfair because he can't have his cake and eat it too. All we can do is wonder what in the world Helen and Lydia see in this loser. The film ends pretty much predictably but it's fun to watch. It's not a very profound film in any sense, but as a romantic comedy it's eminently satisfying.
| 
