Review of Sliding Doors (1998) by Dawdlingpoet — 25 Nov 2021

This movie is watchable enough, it features a pretty decent cast and the concept behind the story is one that many people will likely find intriguing. Helen is a pretty likeable character, though I suppose at times she kept her feelings to herself and may seem a little distant perhaps but then as we learn about whats going on and what she's been through, that seems fair enough and she does come across as a fairly vulnerable character, though she has a good friend that looks out for her. The men in Helens life are, I suppose, portrayed as a bit stupid and/or arrogant and egotistical in one way or another, though Helen may have taken things the wrong way and mis-read the situation as far as one character is concerned (mind you as viewers we may take that with a grain of salt depending on whether we believe what he says when trying to convince her otherwise later on), so yes this is a movie which will likely appeal alot more to women than men. I think women, at least some women, can become quite fascinated with the concepts of fate and destiny and will at one point in their life or another, question 'what if?' like 'what if I hadn't gone in to work that day? I wouldn't have bumped into such and such' or 'what if I hadn't bought that magazine - I wouldn't have entered the competition and won a lifechanging holiday' things like that. There could be multiple times in a persons life where a series of events all hines on whether you do something that seems so insignificant that you'd have no idea ultimately how important it is and thats what this movie is all about. I suppose in a way it could be comforting to us women, we can tell ourselves every day that perhaps todays commute into work or into town/the city will spark off a series of events that will lead to things improving for the better but there again, thats not to say that Helen has a totally smooth ride on either of the two different outcomes that we're shown, no there are some sad moments in both of the outcomes, indeed I felt really sad for Helen at one point when things took a particularly bad turn for the worse, which shows that the characterisation is pretty good, otherwise I might not have bothered but thinking about it, by then I must have been quite absorbed in the movie.

I don't think that this is a particularly memorable movie, its perhaps a bit slow and basic for some but for a 'chick flick' its not too bad - it has an interesting concept and the cast is pretty good, though for me its one to catch on TV rather than pay much for. Of course its hardly a new movie now, having been released in 1998 but its one that most people will have heard of in passing and its been shown on TV multiple times. To be honest, I struggle to think of much to say about this movie really, its not so much bad as its just another fairly generic 'chick flick' and I don't tend to be so interested in those but having heard of it before and seeing it was going to be shown during the recent holidays, I decided to give it a go and recorded it and I figured I might as well try reviewing it - I've seen a few others but I haven't reviewed them as I don't think of them as being movies that are easy to review. I would say that the cast are good and the story is interesting which makes it watchable, there are some sad scenes and some nicer ones, ultimately, to me, its a fairly average 'chick flick' which is worth catching on TV or renting if you've never seen it but I wouldn't really say its worth spending much, if any, money on it per se, as to me it wasn't overly memorable.

If your a big fan of this genre then surely you will have already seen this movie by now, so I suppose others that haven't seen it will be like me, not necessarily big fans of 'rom coms' (romantic comedies)/'chick flicks' (that term does get a bit annoying too) and all I can say is that I thought it was diverting - it wasn't the most exciting or shocking movie I've seen, there isn't much action but a bit of drama and mainly romance. The main character, Helen, is well portrayed and the cast generally is pretty good plus the story is one that will likely appeal to women and so in that regards, yes its worth watching but I'm not sure that I would say its worth paying much, if anything, for to rent or keep as I don't feel its that memorable a movie. Other people may analyse it alot more than I did and they may like to replay it to double check details I suppose but I just watched it to pass the time and found it to be fairly diverting, thats about it - I'd imagine there are other equally watchable movies of its type, I just can't quite get myself to specifically recommend this one, I think, so its up to you whether you feel you should give it a watch, thats if you've not seen it already anyway.