Sliding Doors
| Sliding Doors | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by | Peter Howitt |
| Written by | Peter Howitt |
| Produced by | Sydney Pollack, Philippa Braithwaite |
| Starring | Gwyneth Paltrow John Hannah |
| Cinematography | Remi Adefarasin |
| Music by | David Hirschfelder |
| Distributed by | Miramax Films Paramount Pictures |
Release dates | April 24, 1998 |
Running time | 99 minutes |
| Countries | United Kingdom United States |
| Language | English |
Sliding Doors is a 1998 film written and directed by former actor Peter Howitt. It starred Gwyneth Paltrow and John Hannah, and featured John Lynch, Jeanne Tripplehorn and Virginia McKenna. The original music score was composed by David Hirschfelder.
- Tagline: There are two sides to every story. Helen is about to live both of them... at the same time. Romance was never this much fun.
Plot
The film follows the life of Helen Quilley (Paltrow), who is fired from her public relations job. The film's plot splits into two parallel universes which run in tandem. In one universe, Helen manages to catch a London Underground train home on time, and in the other she misses it. In the first, she gets home in time to catch her boyfriend (Lynch) red-handed with his ex-girlfriend (Tripplehorn); she promptly dumps him, and meets (and falls in love with) a new man (Hannah). In the second, she carries on oblivious in a miserable relationship after arriving home after her boyfriend's lover has left.
Toward the end of both scenarios, she discovers she is pregnant with her respective partner's baby. In both timelines, she ends up in near-fatal accidents, gets taken to the hospital and loses her baby. In the first scenario (in which she catches the train), she dies in the arms of her newfound love. In the second scenario, Helen (knowing that her boyfriend has gotten his lover pregnant) tells him to leave her alone for good. Then, while leaving the hospital, she runs into her love interest from the first scenario, leaving the audience to speculate about the outcome of their meeting.
Selected cast
- Gwyneth Paltrow as Helen Quilley
- John Hannah as James Hamilton
- 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 James's Mother
- Kevin McNally as Paul
- Christopher Villiers as Steve
Soundtrack
- Aimee Mann - Amateur
- Elton John - Benny and the Jets
- Dido - Thank You
- Aqua - Turn Back Time
- Jamiroquai - Use the Force
- Abra Moore - Don't Feel Like Cryin'
- Peach Union - 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
Trivia
 | This article contains a list of miscellaneous information. (January 2008) |
- The theme of alternative lives resulting from a chance event is reminiscent of J. B. Priestley's plays in the 1930's, particularly Dangerous Corner.
- 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 late-night scene when Paltrow and Hannah are walking down the street chatting was filmed on Primrose Gardens (formerly Stanley Gardens) in Belsize Park.
- British singer Dido's song "Thank You" made its first appearance on the Sliding Doors soundtrack, although it only became 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".
- An episode of Frasier was based on the premise for this movie, entitled "Sliding Frasiers" (Season 8).
- The Scrubs episode My Butterfly featured a similar plot, involving a seemingly mundane event leading to separate storylines with essentially the same ending.
- The Tamil movie 12B is based heavily on this movie.[citation needed]
- John Hannah's line in the diner '2.85 - 2.85' is the first line of the 1972 filmHeaven Can Wait and is an homage to that film from writer/director Peter Howitt