Rating: 
Summary: If only I could give it six!
Review: This movie is the best I've seen in a long time. It's not just good, it's captivating! It really leaves you guessing, too. You never really find out how the drugs get into their backpack and while this sort of ending may not satisfy some, it's really a wonderful movie. Besides, the fact that you're left guessing really makes a conversation topic. In fact, me and my friend were actally fighting about it after we watched it once. I personally think that it was Kate Beckinsale, but that's just me! In all, it's a wonderful movie you're sure to love!
Rating:
Summary: A great movie!!!!
Review: This is a great movie that shows the the great bond that best friends have! I really enjoyed this movie, people who have a best friend can relate to the feeling that these two friends felt at the beginning of the movie. The movie is sad, but really good!
Rating: 
Summary: Solid, Though Familiar Drama
Review: Upon graduation from High School, two lifelong friends take it upon themselves to alter their post-graduation travel plans, changing the destination of their celebration trip from Hawaii to the more exotic (they think) Thailand. And for Alice Marano (Claire Danes) and Darlene Davis (Kate Beckinsale), it's but the first of many mistakes they will come to regret in "Brokedown Palace," directed by Jonathan Kaplan. Of the two, Darlene is the more reserved, conservative one, and when Alice first suggests changing Hawaii for Thailand, Darlene demurs; she knows her father would never allow it. Which leads them to mistake number two: They make the arrangements themselves, telling no one, not even their parents, that they've changed destinations. Initially, they are elated by the freedom the leap from sheltered student to independent adult affords them; unfortunately, they lack the experience and frame of reference needed to successfully negotiate the nuances of a country that is so unlike anything they've ever known. They land in Thailand and approach their "adventure" with the same casual indifference they would a school field trip, but as they quickly discover, there is no bus waiting to take them home at the end of the day. Nor are they prepared for the irresistible attention bestowed upon them by the dashing young man they meet-- a traveler as well-- who charms them with some very romantic, and ultimately very dangerous, notions. They soon learn that being naive in the ways of the real world, and still more innocent than they'd like to admit, can be a lethal combination for two young, unprotected girls in a foreign land. And in a text book example of learning something the hard way, their epiphany comes too late, and their "harmless" decision to change their travel plans ends up changing their lives forever. With this film, Kaplan delivers a good, solid and somewhat emotionally involving drama, but it's hardly anything new, and certainly not ground breaking in any way. In fact, the same territory was covered, only better, in the '98 film, "Return To Paradise," and especially in 1978's "Midnight Express," the most significant difference being that the protagonists here are young, vulnerable women. The film is well made and acted, but there are no real surprises on hand, and barely enough tension to sustain interest. The best thing about this movie is the performances by Danes and Beckinsale, both of whom manage to make their respective characters believable. There is one aspect of the film that challenges credibility somewhat (and it is only slightly), and that is the fact that these two girls are supposedly lifelong, best friends. Though they relate well enough to one another, there's a decided lack of evidence that would indicate that kind of closeness between them, especially when compared to the similar kind of relationship depicted in the film "Heavenly Creatures," in which the closeness of the young ladies in question is never in doubt. The problem, however, is more of a reflection upon the screenplay and the director, than it is on the actors. The supporting cast includes Bill Pullman (Yankee Hank), Jacqueline Kim (Yon), Lou Diamond Phillips (Roy), Daniel Lapaine (Nick), Tom Amandes (Doug Davis), Aimee Graham (Beth Ann) and John Doe (Bill Marano). There's a message in "Brokedown Place" that Kaplan holds up like a warning sign for the young, inexperienced adventurer that reads, "Proceed With Caution!" But words of wisdom are often impotent and are bound to fall on deaf ears when directed at those engaged in the transition between youth and adulthood, and like Alice and Darlene, there are many who will always insist on taking the hard road to enlightenment. There's definitely an upside to the frivolity of youth, part of which is unencumbered freedom; but as this film so aptly illustrates, there is decidedly a downside to embracing it carelessly. And it's a sobering thought that far exceeds this medium through which it is so prudently delivered.
Rating:
Summary: Lovely movie.
Review: This story is one of the most poignant ever released. It is not the usual predictable fodder that comes from film. Amazing performances are given by all the actors, particularly Claire Danes. Her work honestly deserves an oscar...esp. if Julia Roberts can get one. This movie is about the torturous possibility of betrayal by a friend...and the fearful possibility of having your young and innocent life taken with no cause. It is quite the experience.
Rating:
Summary: very very good
Review: This was a great movie I had been reading an artical about some girls this really happend to. I did want the ending to be alittle different but then I guess it would not be like real life.
Rating:
Summary: WOW! What a movie!
Review: This movie is one of the best I've seen! Two best friends falling for a scheme that ruined their life, but got them after all closer together, even after some breakdowns. I know Darlene and Hank never will stop trying, and that's even more important than getting Alice out of there. The love Alice and Darlene have for each other, even if it's not romantic, is maybe the greatest thing about this film!
Rating:
Summary: Okay... entertaining and moving but a little shallow
Review: I just watched this video a few weeks ago, after wanting to see it for a long time. Basically, I didn't have huge expectations because most of the newspaper and magazine reviews I've read have been lukewarm. Still, I was a little disappointed. I won't go into plot since the Amazon review covers it pretty well. But I have to agree that the depiction of the Thai prison did not really make me see the horror of being there, which I think was its intent. I think Alice makes an offhand comment early on in the girls' sentence that she's "had worse haircuts". Having never been in a Thai prison, I don't know for sure that this movie is portraying it inaccurately, but it was hard to be as shocked as I think we were supposed to be. On the other hand, the girls' friendship is pretty touching and complex. We see a relationship between someone who is a little too naive for her own good, and another girl who tends to be wilder and prone to trouble. As their time in the prison drags on, tensions between the two grow as they realize their mutual affection for the guy who apparently planted the drugs is what led to their predicament. The "bad" girl feels the responsiblity of proving their innocence falls on her shoulders, since she is the one with a track record (the scene between Alice and Darlene's dad, during one of the prison visits, is chilling as he blames her point-blank for their imprisonment). The "nice" girl is angry that she could be so naive to fall for the Australian guy, and furious that her friend was also pursuing him (although this ceases to matter once they're locked up). The closing scene, however, was silly. After witnessing this heart-breaking scene where Alice throws herself at the mercy of the court and pleads for her friend's release, we get this: Alice, in the final moments of the film, gazing into the sky with a big, sunny grin on her face, saying that she just knows she herself will be getting out someday, because her loved ones are not going to stop fighting for her. Well, that's nice, but we're just supposed to believe that? (Not the part about people fighting for her release, but the part about getting out.) This girl, who is clearly the more cynical of the two friends and who has apparently been through hell, is satisfied because she "knows" she'll be leaving any day now? Does she, or the audience really know that? It just left a big question mark for me, and was not believable at all in the context of the rest of the story. That said, this IS a pretty entertaining film, faults and all, so I wouldn't discourage anyone from seeing it... just don't expect something profound because you won't find it.
Rating:
Summary: flawed but thoughtful film
Review: High on the list of sadly neglected and wholly underappreciated films of the past several years stands 1998's "Return to Paradise," a tale of three American vacationers who inadvertantly run afoul of the laws of Malaysia, two of whom must decide whether or not to sacrifice themselves and return to the brutal third world country to serve their prison sentence so that the third who has been caught can avoid execution. What is most remarkable about this film is that it manages not only to set up a fascinating moral dilemma for both the characters and the audience but, most amazingly, to stay true and honest to it throughout the course of the entire film. "Brokedown Palace," whose plot echoes "Return to Paradise," falls several notches below the earlier film mostly because it saves its moral dilemma until the very end of the story. The resolution is a powerful one when it comes, but the delay robs the film as a whole of some of its interest. In this film, Claire Danes and Kate Beckinsdale play recent high school graduates who opt to visit Thailand instead of Hawaii and run into a sleazy young con man who plants heroin on them - an act for which, when it is discovered by the authorities, the girls are falsely imprisoned. The bulk of the film concerns itself with the attempts by an American lawyer (Bill Pullman) to clear their names and secure their freedom. Much of the film plays like a rehash of "Midnight Express," as the girls are badgered and threatened through their interrogations and forced to endure the rigors of a Third World prison - although, strangely enough, the horrors seem oddly downplayed at times. These are the weakest sections of the film for the visualization of the experience seems almost too glamorized at times, as if the commercial-minded filmmakers didn't dare risk alienating these actresses' many fans by offending their sensibilities. Still, the situation is a ripe one for intense audience identification since who cannot empathize with a couple of fun loving adolescents caught in a nightmarish web not of their own making? Actually, the sharpest aspect of the film is the underlying theme of the scary part seemingly insignificant actions and decisions can play in determining the course of one's entire life. Constantly, the girls are forced to wonder "what if we had gone to Hawaii...what if we had not met the drug smuggler...what if we had not snuck into the hotel to order drinks on a stranger's room bill, etc." The movie also achieves some depth in its final moments as Alice (Danes) grapples with a major moral decision and discovers the redemption for a life built on a pattern of seemingly insignificant deceit and lies. She realizes that a person's character is made up of ALL the actions she performs in a lifetime, regardless of how trivial or benign they may seem at the time. In addition, she learns the often horrifying price true friendship sometimes demands - and her final actions betoken a personal maturation that helps lift her character far above the rung of conventional movie heroines. "Brokedown Palace" may occasionally seem tedious in its details, but the thematic depth and moral underpinnings that lie within it make it a film worth watching.
Rating: 
Summary: Stellar performances make the movie worthwhile.
Review: I know what you were thinking when you saw the trailer or movie poster for this movie: another teen-girl flick that acts as a star vehicle for it's two lead actresses. Wrong. Brokedown Palace is far from being a juvenile movie; it takes real issues into it's hands and plays those issues out through the emotions and actions of the characters and their surroundings. Claire Danes plays Alice, a wild, impulsive girl who, with her more reserved friend, graduates from high school in the movie's beginning. Darlene, played by Kate Beckinsdale, is skeptical when Alice suggests going to Thailand instead of Maui, but goes with er anyway. Upon their arrival, they spend their days basking in the sun, touring the streets of Bangkok, and pretending to be guests at an expensive hotel, where they meet a man by the name of Nick Parks. Both girls, of course, fall for him, with Darlene ultimately winning out in the end. This puts a small wrench in their friendship, which is played into as the film progresses. After agreeing to go to Hong Kong with him, the two girls are arrested without warning from the airport, accused to attempted narcotic smuggling. This is the point at which the film's pace quickens dramatically, with the girl's going through the ins and outs of prison life and trying to get in touch with Yankee Hank, an American lawyer, played by Bill Pullman. While the story itself does have a credible amount of tension and emotion, it is the performances from Danes and Beckinsdale that make the movie a success. The two actresses play their parts with a large degree of originality, and Pullman's performance also delivers. Sequences in the Thai prison appear authentic in nature, and it looks like the filmmakers did their homework before putting these scenes together. The film is not one that should be dismissed on the basis of it's appearance, for that can be deceiving. The DVD edition of the film is lacking, however, in sound quality. Audio jumps for a second in three different places in the movie, and the overall movie seems to sound a little lower in volume than most other DVDs.
Rating:
Summary: **Brokedown Palace - A Story of Friendship**
Review: The film 'Brokedown Palace' was great. It was a film about friendship. And threw out a very intense theme. The acting was unbelievably done. And everything was shown as it should have been.
The film was about how two bestfriends Darlene and Alice goto Thailand to celebrate their graduation. There they are framed with the arrest of drug narcotics. They goto jail there. A lawyer comes by, and tries to help them out. Does he succeed? BUY THIS MOVIE!
The acting is fantastic! You will not be upset with this 5-star DRAMA!
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