Bangkok aller simple

Brokedown Palace (1999)

Who wouldn't have some curiosity and tension about two pretty young women (played by pretty young actresses, anyway), trapped in a Thai prison system for drug smuggling? But boy is this a clunky construction for a movie. First of all, the women are stupid. They admit to being stupid, but they are selfish and frivolous and you really couldn't care less if they went to jail. On the other hand, you can picture being in a foreign country and losing track of things a little and getting victimized and so you do, after all, get involved and hope for justice.

There is (sometimes) a tense progression of increasingly discouraging events, and the prison system is a tough place. And the sets and filming are really great. If only the writing was remotely convincing and smart. It's not. Even the direction is painful, emphasizing not the facts or some sense of possible realism, but an armchair version of what this kind of scenario might mean to two relatively innocent girls is just a little embarrassing. The director (Jonathan Kaplan) is the same one who missed a huge opportunity with some amazing material filming In Cold Blood, and he is, understandably, most known for television, which takes a different kind of sensibility. And it's also very slow, taking a few turns or progressions and stretching a two hour movie out of it.

It's a tough ride if you take it at face value. And it's a shame, because there is a Midnight Express hidden in here somewhere. There are some really gorgeous moments, aside from the travelogue stuff, and I think Claire Danes, at least, is a good actress. Just an example of how many elements it takes to align and get a great movie.

I was shown this movie in my high school civics class, which was a few years ago (I have since graduated from high school), and didn't get much out of it around the beginning, but for the most part, it had me in suspense. It had been over 4 ½ years since that unforgettable experience when I very recently rented it and watched it a second time. I was once again intrigued by a lot of it, but this time, certain things bothered me.

Two young Americans, Alice Marano and Darlene Davis, are long-term best friends. After graduating from high school, they plan to go on vacation in Hawaii before going to college. However, when they are convinced by peers that Thailand is a better choice, they decide to go there instead, but without informing their parents! While in Thailand, they soon meet a young Australian man who introduces himself as Nick Parks. They become friends, and Nick convinces Alice and Darlene to fly to Hong Kong. As the two lifelong friends wait in line for their flight, they are in for a shock, as they are suddenly arrested! It turns out that heroin has been found in their luggage (which they both claim they did not put in there), and in this country, being found guilty of drug smuggling leads to very long prison sentences! Do they have any chance of getting out, or are they doomed to spend the next several decades in a Thailand prison?!

What are the problems with "Brokedown Palace"? Well, first of all, it starts out rather dull. For the most part, prior to the arrest, I did not see too many merits in the film. I did feel tension at times during this part of the film, but that was just because I knew what was going to happen. I also found Claire Danes' narration (as Alice) to be rather poor, and I have noticed quite a bit of praise for the acting (not a lot of criticism), but I myself was not too impressed with it (at least not from the two lead actresses, Claire Danes and Kate Beckinsale), so I'm a bit confused. Maybe I'm thinking too much of the script (which I'm not surprised to find a lot of criticism for), and/or I just don't like the two main characters, who don't seem too bright. I must confess, I am not an expert on Thailand, so I don't know how accurately "Brokedown Palace" depicts the country, and if I were to go there at some point, it could negatively change my view on this film.

Since I was impressed with quite a few parts of this drama, I can't give it any less than a 6/10. The film could also remind people in first world countries of the harsh penalties for crimes in countries like Thailand, so I guess I'll give it credit for that as well. However, 6 is not THAT high a rating, and because of all the problems I found in the film, it wouldn't feel right to give it a rating any higher than that. In my opinion, "Brokedown Palace" is not that bad (though those who are more enlightened on the subject matter of the film may disagree), but if it wasn't for certain significant problems, I think it would have had a lot more potential.

Alice(Claire Danes) and Darlene(Kate Beckinsale) have been best friends since forever and after they graduate they decide to take a trip to Thailand. Due to a incident, they meet a young attractive mysterious stranger who invites them to go with him Hong Kong for the weekend. But at the airport, Alice and Darlene are mistaken for drug smuggling heroine and they are sent to prison. Now it's time for ultimate survival and true friendship. This was a pretty good movie, i've seen it a couple of times and after a while you notice that they are a few holes in the plot but the movie still keeps you entertained. Claire Danes did a great job as usual, she is a great actress. I would give Brokedown Palace 8/10

We all have friends. Some of us have more than others but there really are only one or two people that you feel really close with, people that you can say are like your brother or sister. Alice ( Danes )and Darlene ( Beckinsale ) are like that. You can see that from the beginning. They graduated together, they go to parties together and they decide to go to Bangkok together when they were supposed to be going to Hawaii. They also get busted for attempting to smuggle drugs into a third world country and that spells disaster. The rest of the film is about survival and not giving up hope. It also has a strong message about the power of friendship and what it can mean to someone.

Brokedown Palace is a very good film, it is not excellent and that is due to a few issues that I want to talk about. But first I want to say what is good about the film. And for starters the acting is top notch, and you can look no further than the two leads. Danes and Beckinsale are perfect in the roles that they have. Alice is always fiery and seems a little rough around the edges, but she seems more fun than Darlene. But sometimes that fun can get her into trouble. Darlene is always a little on the conservative side and although that can get irritating sometimes, it would have served the two girls better if her way was adhered to instead of Alice's. Bill Pullman is adequate as the American lawyer living in Thailand. The film is photographed very well also. The inside of the prison while not the same as Shawshank or Natural Born Killers or Return To Paradice, but it does show the necessary ( but underdone) hopelessness of the situation that they are in. Johnathin Kaplan's direction is quite good as well. We see the two girls struggling to make it through each day but you can see their spirit is being put out a little more each day. Brokedown Palace is excellent when it talks about friendship and it shows how they have to rely on each other to survive. The other thing that I had to comment on is the soundtrack for the film. It heightens and compliments the mood of the film to perfection. The song that you hear in the trailer is also played in the film and when it plays you feel the plight of the women in this prison. You can feel how alone they must feel and how desperate they are to get out and get back to the simple things in life. And it also makes you look at yourself and realize how lucky we are to live in the society that we do. We have it easy compared to some country's and believe it or not the music is a perfect catalyst for reflection on this subject. Some of the music is done by a group called Delirium ( I think ) but it is Sara McLaughlin( wrong spelling, but how do you spell her last name? ) that does the lyrics and her voice is beautiful and haunting and it adds so much to the film.

What I didn't enjoy about the film was some of the stupidity that the girls exhibit. I won't say what it is that they do but when you see it for yourself you'll know what I am talking about. Also I didn't really feel that the prison they were in was all that bad. It looked more like a minimum security prison and that may be because when there are similar circumstances in other films that invlove men doing time in a foreign country, the prison scenes are always brutal and sadistic. But I didn't get that here.

Overall this is a great film and it really does make you ask the question, " How far would you go for a friend? " That is a tough question and maybe one that none of us could honestly answer until put into the same situation. Let's just hope that it never comes down to that.

*** out of ****

Brokedown Palace has an intriguing premise: two best friends (Kate Beckinsale and Claire Danes) fresh from high school are on their summer vacation in Thailand, but are arrested for possession of narcotics, found guilty and sentenced to 33 years in a women's prison. Admittedly, I'm aware of several films with similar stories (Midnight Express, Return to Paradise, and Red Corner), and I must also admit I've only see one of those three aforementioned films, which might be why much of it felt fresh and engrossing to me. Either that, or it's just a story that's told damn well.

Bill Pullman also stars in the picture as an American lawyer named Hank Greene, who feels for the girls' plight and fights to prove their innocence. But the real focus is on Beckinsale and Danes, whose wonderful performances are the anchor to the film's drama and moral quandaries. Beckinsale's Darlene is the more reserved and quieter of the two, the kind of person who sort of follows her friend without question, and certainly not the type to take unwarranted risks (unless her friend persuades her to). She's almost a direct opposite of Danes' Alice, whose outgoing and semi-rebellious behavior is the indirect link to their current troubles.

I hesitate to give much more of the movie away, suffice to say that their friendship is what's ultimately put to the test, and watching the twists and turns (almost all of which are perfectly believable) in the story is utterly captivating. The film slinks to melodrama in its climactic moments, but still rings true thanks to the tour-de-force turns from Beckinsale and Danes.

It's an open-ended question as to whether or not either of the girls committed the crime of smuggling narcotics, and such ambiguity might upset some, but I liked not knowing for certain, and it's not as if it makes the final scenes any less believable. In fact, the ambiguity only makes it all the more compelling. Yes, the plot has its share of head-scratching moments (what purpose does that Thai girl who despises Darlene and Alice really serve?) and lacks subtlety on occasion, but it's a well-crafted film that boasts great performances, and has the guts not to cop out in the end.