Thanks for the memories!

Don't listen to the Hype. It's awful

This is a must-see and one of the best documentaries - and films - of this year.

There's no way I can possibly love it entirely but I just think its ridiculously bad, but enjoyable at the same time.

I'd wanted to see this for a while. I knew it as a rob of Run, Lola Run! (Lola Rennt) but it it intrgued me none the less. Gwyneth Paltrow is not one of my favourite actors and the chemistry with her two male leads is less than stellar but she did a great job of a convincing English accent and deserved better than this cheap, non-filmic looking outing that has all the production values and art camerawork of a Channel Five drama.It's like a hideous rom-com as styled by Richard Curtis crossed with a stolen idea. What would happen if life changed because of a 2 second chance happenstance. Interesting premise but a bad wig and two drippy guys didn't do it for me.Sorry, not good. Sorry Gwenyth.

Helen (Gwyneth Paltrow) gets fired from her PR job for taking home all the booze. As she tries to go home, she misses the subway train... then in another storyline, she catches the subway train. The difference leads to two different stories. In one, she goes to the hospital after a purse snatching. She doesn't catch her boyfriend cheating, and her miserable life continues. In the other, she meets talkative James (John Hannah) on the train and finds her boyfriend Gerry (John Lynch) cheating with Lydia (Jeanne Tripplehorn).Written and directed by Peter Howitt, this movie is one gimmick but I'm not sure there is much more than that. His style is competent if somewhat uninspired. Gwyneth is talking with a British accent. John Lynch has no screen presence and his character has the personality of a slug. The stories lack any excitement. John Hannah is quite charming, but the happy storyline doesn't really have enough drama. In the end, I don't care about either road traveled. It's a missed opportunity to write something amazing. It needs somebody with that sensibility like a Charlie Kaufman.

Very well made with a nice witty script and a decent pace so it doesn't get bogged down too much. It does look slightly dated though, but that's mostly to do with things like fashion and technology.I must admit I did find the premise of this film quite interesting; how just a couple of seconds at a crucial moment can make drastic changes to a life did intrigue me. I did enjoy the way it was done but ultimately it is about feelings and relationships which is fine as far as it goes. It did leave me with a few questions by the end and I see that as a good thing; there were certain things open to interpretation and any film that does that is always going to be worth a look, in my view. I will admit I did enjoy it up to a point; I found the characters quite engaging, there is some great dialogue and I even recognised one or two of the tunes! Over all, worth a look but I feel its one of those I'll only watch once (although I've been wrong about that before).SteelMonster's verdict: RECOMMENDEDMy score: 7.2/10You can find an expanded version of this review on my blog: Thoughts of a SteelMonster.

The central plot device notwithstanding, "Sliding Doors" is a formulaic romantic comedy, with Paltrow a seemingly reluctant constant in the middle of the formula. (Peter Howitt, writer and director, does deserve credit for not trying to explain how the two wormholes through the romantic cosmos diverge--rather just presenting the intertwined versions of Helen's life). Jeanne Tripplehorn and John Lynch are each a lot of fun to watch. Lynch maintains a wonderfully dazed and confused demeanor in the face of womankind on the warpath, and Tripplehorn trods said warpath with great brio. Their lines aren't original, but they get into the spirit. The climax of the movie (no spoilers here) seems way contrived, and it disturbs whatever flow has been developed: writer-running-out-of-ideas material. Douglas McFerran, as Gerry's de rigueur funny mate, does a workmanlike job in magnifying Gerry's angst.