Brokedown Palace (1999)
Tim (4 stars) - Brokedown Palace is a move that I had seen several times before and although I liked it, I didn't really feel like I needed to see it again. Claire Danes is lovely, but when we pulled out the DVD to watch it, I was thinking "been there, done that." But when we actually started watching the movie I realized that there was a lot of the movie that I didn't really remember and I found myself thoroughly enjoying it again. I remember my dad always talking about his failing memory and saying that it was a good thing because he could watch anything again and not realized that he had watched it before. I am not yet at the point where I don't even remember if I've watched something but I definitely didn't remember as much of the story as I thought I did. It is truly terrible to get old. Anyway, if you haven't seen Brokedown Palace, you just have to see it because it is a very well done film. It is a fairly simple storyline about 2 friends that travel to Thailand and through a series of unfortunate events find themselves in a Thai prison, fighting for their release. The complexities come in to the story in the fact that these are two childhood friends who have been friends forever, but come from different sides of the socio-economic "tracks". The girl played by Kate Beckinsale is from a wealthy family with a mother and father; Claire's character only has her father to support her and times are rough for him. This is the kind of bridge in society that is fine in normal day life but plays out very dramatically when put into the pressure cooker situation of the Thai prison. Kate's father comes to visit them and secretly tells Claire that he never liked her and always knew she was trouble. There are moments when each girl blames the other for being put in their situation, but the reality is that they were set up to take a fall from the beginning. I was pleasantly surprised by this movie seeing it again after several years. It has aged well.
Liz (3 1/2 stars) This was a second or maybe third viewing of this movie for me. I had originally seen it when it came out in the theaters. The story follows two girls who are best friends who have just graduated from high school. Despite having been friends since they were young, their lives are going in two different directions. Darlene, played by Kate Beckensale has always been the good one and has a nice family. She is going off to college and leaving behind Alice, played by Claire Danes. Alice is a little more rough around the edges and lives with her father who is pretty much absent from her life. Both girls know that their friendship will probably never be the same, so they decide to take a trip together before their lives change. Telling their families they are going to Hawaii, they actually take a trip to Thailand. Once in Thailand, they become involved with a man who charms them, but is actually setting them up so he can smuggle drugs out of the country. This gets them thrown into a Thai prison for women. They cal upon the services of an American lawyer who practices in Thailand, played by Bill Pulman. In trying to secure their freedom, questions arise about who knew what about the drugs and their friendship is tested. This might not be the greatest movie, but the performances are good and the story doesn't lag anywhere. Also, if this movie doesn't make you think twice about doing anything criminal in a foreign country, I don't know what will! It certainly didn't make me want to visit Thailand anytime soon!
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