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| Directed by Jonathan Kaplan; Starring Claire Danes, Kate Beckinsale, Bill Pullman, Lou Diamond Phillips, Jacqui Kim, Daniel Lapaine, and Amanda De Cadenet |
Sometimes I get to have a little fun with movies by thinking of how many times I’ve seen the film before, just done slightly different. With Brokedown Palace, I could come up with the obvious Midnight Express,as well as Return to Paradise (both dealing with being jailed for narcotics charges). Then there is the less obvious Paradise Road (women in a troubled moment in a prison-like situation), The Sweet Hereafter (for the caring lawyer that seems more interested in the money, though he is probably not), Red Corner (the Asian court system at work), and just for kicks, Switchblade Sisters and American History X (don’t ask, they just seem to work in my mind). Needless to say, Brokedown Palace is not an original film, nor is it anything new, still I cannot help but to like the film at moments. No it is no achievement nor is it that good, but I still thought it had some merits.
It’s about two girls, Alice (Danes) and Darlene (Beckinsale), sent to Thai prison for seemingly attempting to smuggle narcotics to Hong Kong. Though whether they did intend on it was a secret from the audience, it seems that they were set up by a young gentleman (Lapaine) who tries to seduce them and then convinces them to go to Hong Kong even though their parents are under the impression that they are going to Hawaii for their graduation trip. They are imprisoned in a all-women’s prison, where they find that they cannot stay together as they should because each blames the other. Their case comes to interest to a American lawyer in Thailand named Yankee Hank (Pullman) that takes their case after their parents agree to pay (though Darlene’s father is completely blaming Alice).
Many parts of the film are completely implausible, especially in the film’s finale. All the same there were merits to the film. Not the over acting of the two leads, or the over dramatic direction of Kaplan, but the way the film feels and the story were likeable and there were parts of the film that were well done. I earlier compared the film to seven films and Brokedown Palace was actually better than four of them (all but The Sweet Hereafter, American History X, and Midnight Express).
