Sliding Doors Review

The conceit of Peter Howitt`s Sliding Doors is the presentation of two `what if...` situations. Helen - Gwyneth Paltrow - having been abruptly fired from her PR job, rushes off to catch a tube home to boyfriend Gerry - John Lynch. It`s at the moment of catching the train that the film`s single story turns into two. In the first scenario Helen catches the train, chats with fellow passenger James - John Hannah - and arrives home early to discover Gerry two-timing her with Lydia - Jeanne Tripplehorn. Scenario two has her missing the train and arriving home too late to catch Gerry in flagrento. Two different lives then result for Helen and we follow them both. Peter Howitt, an actor who wrote and directed this his first feature film, manages, admittedly with the help of a major hair change, to intercut these two stories quite cohesively...Sliding Doors is basically all construct. Although Helen and James are charming their story is not enough to engage us for the length of a movie. Helen`s alternative life with Gerry is marred by improbability and a surprisingly unconvincing performance from John Lynch. But despite the uneven nature of the two scenarios the construct is quite captivating. Paltrow, as she proved in Emma, is able to don a convincing Britishness. She`s very watchable. John Hannah is surprisingly endearing as a leading man. So for me Sliding Doors is not a great film, but it`s a very enjoyable one.