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PALMETTO Starring
- Woody Harrelson, Elisabeth Shue, Gina Gershon, Rolf Hoppe, Chloe Sevingy, Tom Wright,
Michael Rapaport Palmetto tells the story of Harry Barber (Woody Harrelson) a newspaper reporter, fresh out of prison after serving a two year sentence for a bum wrap and determined to start a new life. Although he doesn't want to return to his hometown of Palmetto, his girlfriend Nina (Gina Gershon) persuades him to go back to the sleepy town that has long attracted trouble. Harry meets mysterious blonde Rhea Malroux (Elizabeth Shue) the wife of wealthy Felix Malroux, a man who is dying of cancer. Rhea makes Harry an offer that is too good to refuse. She asks him to participate in a simple scam which could earn him a cool fifty thousand dollars...be the voice on the telephone demanding a ransom for the kidnapping of Rhea's stepdaughter Odette. Everything seems to go to plan until murder, deception, betrayal, false identities and dead bodies start to abound! What we are left with is an average thriller that doesn't need the viewer to possess a detective's badge to to be able solve the mystery and figure out what's going on. There are quite a few twists and turns that will keep you intrigued however if you're a fan of the murder/mystery/thriller genre you will no doubt figure out most of what's going on before the end. Don't let that put you off though. Palmetto is a good, sexy thriller that's worth watching. Academy Award winner Elizabeth Shue gives a good performance (not unlike the one she gave in Leaving Las Vegas) and Woody Harrelson brings dimension to the role of Harry. This is a seedy, sexy thriller with some wonderfully erotic scenes...you'll remember the scene where Harry checks Rhea to see if she's wearing a wire long after the movie has ended!
A wonderful script and some exceptional acting turns what could have been a difficult movie to follow, into an intriguing and thought provoking story. This romantic comedy is based around a "what if" theory. What if one split second was all it took to send your life spiraling down two completely different paths?
As Helen enters the London Subway she realises her train is about to leave and runs to catch it. As she reaches the sliding doors of the train the "what if" scenario begins. What if she catches the train...what if she misses it? This movie explores the path Helen's life would take if she makes it on board the train and at the same time, running parallel to this destiny, it explores what would happen if she misses the train. We see how the difference of one split second could change her life completely and not always in ways we would expect.
I have spoken to some people about this movie and a few of them said they gave up on it because they didn't have a clue what was going on. It's a movie that you must watch carefully, especially during the first half hour or you could very well find yourself at a loss as to what on earth the storyline is all about.
Scenario one sees Helen getting mugged, missing the train
and going home to Gerry. She takes on a job as a waitress to support both herself
and her wannabe Author boyfriend.
If you believe in fate and that our destinies are laid out for us no matter what circumstances may arise to change them...you will love this movie. If you look on fate as a load of rubbish and believe it is us who make our own destinies, you'll still love this movie and you may even change your opinion about just who or what is actually in control of our destinies! John Hannah's performance is as good as it was in Four Weddings and a Funeral (he played the gay man whose lover died of a heart attack.) This movie is full of pockets of funny humour. There are quite a few scene stealers where Gerry, contemplating just what a complete bastard he is, converses with his best mate down at the pub over a couple of beers. These scenes are priceless and the remarks made by his best friend will have you in stitches!
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Starring - Gwyneth Paltrow, John Lynch, John
Hannah, Jeanne Tripplehorn, Douglas McFerran, Zara Turner
James: Cheer up. Remember what the Monty Python boys say.
Gwyneth Paltrow gives an outstanding performance as
Helen, a Public Relations Executive who gets fired from her job and heads home to her
boyfriend Gerry (John Lynch).
Because of the way in which this movie
is filmed, we actually get to see Helen leading two different lives, virtually at the same
time. I have to admit that I was intrigued to see how it would be handled. At
first I thought I may have trouble following it because the same people appear in both
Helen's lives' but a simple haircut made things easy. 
The casting of Sliding Doors was spot on.
John Lynch, who plays Helen's boyfriend Gerry does a good job of portraying a complete and
utter loser. He's a two timing cheat who can't decide between his girlfriend and his
mistress. He's one of those people you just want to hate yet he manages to show a
tiny bit of vulnerability that makes you just about feel sorry for him.
What
she misses however is that before she arrived home Gerry was getting down and dirty in bed
with his mistress, ex-flame Jeanne Tripplehorn who plays the role of a perfect bitch and
does it brilliantly at that! Tripplehorn may have a fairly small part in this movie
but but she brings malice and intensity to her role as Lydia.
Scenario two sees Helen catching the train where
she meets a Scottish man, James (John Hannah) who loves to quote Monty Python. Helen
arrives home before Gerry's mistress leaves and finds the two in bed together.
Don't miss this movie...(if you do, destiny will
probably intervene and you'll get to see it somewhere down the line anyway!)