Sliding Doors (1998)

The proper 90’s classic, Sliding Doors is the ultimate British American film of the paranormal suburbia. The story features Helen, a young woman with a cheating boyfriend and a sudden case of unemployment, on the day she misses the tube after being fired from her job. However, this film is a little different from the typical heroine downfall and romantic interest life changer; except it’s not. Technically, it’s two films. Helen’s life is split in two the second she trips down the stairs of the London Underground. In one scenario, she is intercepted by a child, and misses her designated tube, and in another she catches the doors, and takes the first tube home.

A young Gwyneth Paltrow stars as the unlucky yet wonderfully sarcastic Helen, with John Hannah as the chatty and Scottish man James, whom she meets in both lives, yet keeps in only one. Paltrow is brilliant in this, playing two parts of the same woman, two lives, two hairstyles even, and though it is done with what is arguably an incredibly dodgy half-British accent, the overall effect of Helen is fantastically done. The stretch of the acting is done well too, with even the tiniest characteristics of Helen being modified and remembered as she goes through both lives, and the changes that happen to her along the way.John Hannah is such a warm and lovable character, in this as well, creating a signature trope of wit and quirk, with the famed line ‘no one expects the Spanish inquisition’, stolen from Monty Python but used perfectly for his relationship with Helen.  Though, perhaps, even he has his secrets…   

The overall feel of the film is very easy to relax into and enjoy, yet it continues to have the twists and surprises of a well done rom-com, in the mystery of the miserable cheating boyfriend, or the journey of James’ and Helen’s developing relationship. The brilliance of the alternate universe is cleverly done too, as it rams home the message that even tiny, insignificant moments can change your life, though it’s debatable for Helen which life has changed for the worst.

In conclusion, for a film with adorable quirky British-isms and a cast of stars from before they were stars, this is a perfect weekend watch, and whilst it might not be the most thrilling or exciting of films, it’s certainly not lacking in easy humour and romance.