Sliding Doors

Sliding Doors Information

Sliding Doors is a 1998 British-American romantic comedy-drama film written and directed by Peter Howitt and starring Gwyneth Paltrow and John Hannah, and featured John Lynch, Jeanne Tripplehorn and Virginia McKenna. The film alternates between two parallel universes, based on the two paths the central character's life could take depending on whether or not she catches a train.

Plot

The film follows Helen Quilley (Gwyneth Paltrow), who has just been fired from her public relations job. After she misses her train on the London Underground, the plot splits into two parallel universes, also detailing the separate path her life would have taken had she boarded that train.

In the timeline in which she boards the train, she meets James (John Hannah) on the underground and they strike up a conversation. She gets home in time to catch her boyfriend, Gerry (John Lynch), in bed with his ex-girlfriend, Lydia (Jeanne Tripplehorn); she dumps him and moves in with her friend, Anna (Zara Turner), and changes her appearance for a fresh start. James continues to serendipitously pop into Helen's life, cheering her up and encouraging her to start her own public relations firm. She and James fall in love despite Helen's reservations about beginning another relationship so soon after her ugly breakup with Gerry. Eventually, Helen discovers she's pregnant, believing it is James' child, and goes to see him at his office. She is stunned to learn from James' secretary that he is married. Upset, she disappears. James finds her on a bridge and explains that he was married but is now separated and planning to divorce. He and his soon-to-be-ex-wife maintain the appearance of a happy marriage for the sake of his sick mother. After she and James declare their love, Helen walks out into the road and is hit by a car.

In the timeline in which she misses the train, she then hails a taxi instead but a man tries to snatch her handbag. Helen is injured in the scuffle and goes to the hospital. She arrives home after Lydia has left and carries on, oblivious of Gerry's infidelity, and takes two part-time jobs to pay the bills. Gerry conceals his infidelity and juggles the two women in his life; Lydia even interacts with Helen on several occasions. Helen has a number of conflicts with Gerry but discovers she's pregnant. She never manages to tell him, but does tell him that she has a job interview with an international PR firm. Gerry, thinking Helen is at her interview, goes to see Lydia at her apartment, who is also pregnant with his child. While at Lydia's, Gerry answers the doorbell and sees Helen standing at the door; she is stunned to see Gerry, while Lydia tells her she can't do the interview because she's "deciding whether or not to keep your boyfriend's baby." Distraught, Helen runs off and falls down Lydia's staircase while trying flee from Gerry.

In both timelines, Helen goes to the hospital and loses her baby. In the timeline in which she boards the train, she dies in the arms of her newfound love, James; in the timeline in which she misses the train, she recovers and tells Gerry to leave for good. Before waking, she sees brief visions of the alternate Helen's life in a dream.

In the final scene (now taking place solely in the original "missed train" universe), James is leaving the hospital after visiting his mother, and Helen is leaving after ending her relationship with Gerry. Helen drops an earring in the lift and it is picked up by James. This mirrors the start of the film, where James picks up Helen's earring on the lift after Helen is fired from her job. Before the doors close, James tells Helen to cheer up, and repeats his line, "You know what the Monty Python boys say..." Helen (who, in the beginning of the film, assumed the rejoinder to be "always look on the bright side of life.") says, "Nobody expects the Spanish Inquisition." She and James stare at one another, each surprised by her response. The lift doors close, leaving the audience to speculate whether it was fate or coincidence that brought Helen and James together under these circumstances.

Cast

Gwyneth Paltrow as Helen Quilley
John Hannah as James Hammerton
John Lynch as Gerry
Jeanne Tripplehorn as Lydia
Zara Turner as Anna
Douglas McFerran as Russell
Paul Brightwell as Clive
Nina Young as Claudia
Virginia McKenna as Mrs. Hammerton
Kevin McNally as Paul
Christopher Villiers as Steve

Production

The scenes on the London Underground were filmed at Waterloo station on the Waterloo & City Line and at Fulham Broadway tube station on the District Line. The scenes by the river were filmed next to Hammersmith Bridge and in the Blue Anchor pub in Hammersmith. The bridge featured is Albert Bridge between Battersea and Chelsea. The late-night scene when Paltrow and Hannah walk down the street was filmed on Primrose Gardens (formerly Stanley Gardens) in Belsize Park. The final hospital scene where Helen and James meet in the lift was filmed at Chelsea and Westminster Hospital on the Fulham Road.

Soundtrack

Aimee Mann - "Amateur"
Elton John - "Bennie and the Jets"
Dido - "Thank You"
Aqua - "Turn Back Time"
Jamiroquai - "Use the Force"
Abra Moore - "Don't Feel Like Cryin'"
Peach - "On My Own"
Olive - "Miracle"
Dodgy - "Good Enough"
Blair - "Have Fun, Go Mad"
Andre Barreau - "Got a Thing About You"
Andre Barreau - "Call Me a Fool"

British singer Dido's song "Thank You" made its appearance on the soundtrack, becoming a hit three years later. It was a commercial for this movie featuring "Thank You" as background music that inspired rapper Eminem to use Dido's voice for his song, "Stan".

This soundtrack is notable as the last from a Paramount film to be released by MCA Records, which, as successor to Paramount's former record division, continued to release soundtracks for some Paramount films starting in 1979.

Reception

Box office

The film opened at the box office with $834,817 on #17 during its first weekend but increased by 96.5% to $1,640,438 on its second weekend. It ended up with a total gross in the United States of $11,841,544. It also saw success in the United Kingdom with a total box office gross in excess of £12 million . The film's total world takings totaled over $58 million .

Critical reception

Rotten Tomatoes rated the film 63% "fresh", based on 48 reviews, with a synopsis saying that "[d]espite the gimmicky feel of the split narratives, the movie is watch-able due to the winning performances by the cast". Metacritic described reaction as "mixed or average", with a score of 59% favourable, based on 23 reviews. Time Out described the film as "essentially a romantic comedy with a nifty gimmick". Film director Agnieszka Holland considers the film to be a botched copy of the 1981 Polish film Blind Chance with all the "philosophical depths and stylistic subtleties stripped away".