Brokedown Palace

High on the list of sadly neglected and wholly underappreciated films of the past several years stands 1998's "Return to Paradise," a tale of three American vacationers who inadvertantly run afoul of the laws of Malaysia, two of whom must decide whether or not to sacrifice themselves and return to the brutal third world country to serve their prison sentence so that the third who has been caught can avoid execution. What is most remarkable about this film is that it manages not only to set up a fascinating moral dilemma for both the characters and the audience but, most amazingly, to stay true and honest to it throughout the course of the entire film.

"Brokedown Palace," whose plot echoes "Return to Paradise," falls several notches below the earlier film mostly because it saves its moral dilemma until the very end of the story. The resolution is a powerful one when it comes, but the delay robs the film as a whole of some of its interest. In this film, Claire Danes and Kate Beckinsdale play recent high school graduates who opt to visit Thailand instead of Hawaii and run into a sleazy young con man who plants heroin on them - an act for which, when it is discovered by the authorities, the girls are falsely imprisoned. The bulk of the film concerns itself with the attempts by an American lawyer (Bill Pullman) to clear their names and secure their freedom.

Much of the film plays like a rehash of "Midnight Express," as the girls are badgered and threatened through their interrogations and forced to endure the rigors of a Third World prison - although, strangely enough, the horrors seem oddly downplayed at times. These are the weakest sections of the film for the visualization of the experience seems almost too glamorized at times, as if the commercial-minded filmmakers didn't dare risk alienating these actresses' many fans by offending their sensibilities. Still, the situation is a ripe one for intense audience identification since who cannot empathize with a couple of fun loving adolescents caught in a nightmarish web not of their own making? Actually, the sharpest aspect of the film is the underlying theme of the scary part seemingly insignificant actions and decisions can play in determining the course of one's entire life. Constantly, the girls are forced to wonder "what if we had gone to Hawaii...what if we had not met the drug smuggler...what if we had not snuck into the hotel to order drinks on a stranger's room bill, etc." The movie also achieves some depth in its final moments as Alice (Danes) grapples with a major moral decision and discovers the redemption for a life built on a pattern of seemingly insignificant deceit and lies. She realizes that a person's character is made up of ALL the actions she performs in a lifetime, regardless of how trivial or benign they may seem at the time. In addition, she learns the often horrifying price true friendship sometimes demands - and her final actions betoken a personal maturation that helps lift her character far above the rung of conventional movie heroines.

"Brokedown Palace" may occasionally seem tedious in its details, but the thematic depth and moral underpinnings that lie within it make it a film worth watching.

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.

I saw this film at a store in the cheap section. I actually vividly remembered seeing the commercials and trailer for it years ago. I thought "What the hey' and bought it, basically because the plot sounded interesting and Claire Danes has always been someone of talent in my eyes (this was also before I became a huge Kate Beckinsale fan).

So it's about two girls who sneak off to a vacation in Bangkok, get busted for narcotics (which they are innocent of) and then are sent to a Thailand prison. The film follows what will happen to them and at times questions their innocence.

Both Claire Danes and Kate Beckinsale give great performances, and the plot of this film wraps itself up unconventionally, and raises some nice moral discussion questions.

I think this is a solid good film, but there could have been some improvements. It could have been longer...it would've helped to solidify these characters and more insight into the politics of Thailand's justice system would've helped.

Nevertheless, other than that, it's a good film with some great performances.

P.S. For all you pop-culture junkies be on the lookout for a two-minute role by Paul Walker. I didn't even notice him the first time I saw the film.

I'm a little surprised by the negative criticism this film is attracting.

I'm old enough to be the father of the two main characters; they seemed like accurately drawn teenage girls to me. And I've probably hung out with both of their fathers before. I've been to the Far East. I've stayed in both better and worse places than the girls stayed. I had the pleasure of seeing the inside of a police station after I was robbed. I'm glad I had no more direct exposure to the local judicial system than that; that was more than enough. Everything in this movie seems awfully familiar to me.

I think "Brokedown Palace" represents something pretty close to stark realism. It certainly reminded me of Asia.

Of course it's true that the attitudes of the girls often don't do much to improve their situation. But they are meant to be an example of what not to do overseas. And the portrayal of some of the Thais did make me uncomfortable. But then many of my own personal travel anecdotes don't paint a complimentary picture either.

This is a cautionary tale. An unfortunate consequence of too many people having too much money to spend these days is that you will find unescorted, unprepared, "streetwise", naive young people popping up in places where they have no business being. And when that happens, you end up with situations mirroring this movie.

I suspect people choose to denigrate this one because they are too embarrassed to accept how true it is, and how vulnerable they would be if placed in similar circumstances.

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.