Go for broke

"Brokedown Palace"
Overall Rating: ***


"Brokedown Palace" may suffer unfairly from its surroundings. I'm not referring to the protagonists being dazzled by their exotic travel destination. Rather, I'm thinking back over the films I've seen recently. I've been watching numerous Hitchcock videos, because of the centennial. I've been watching a ton of Kubrick movies--because "Eyes Wide Shut" prompted me to visit both my personal collection and the video store. Then there's "The Sixth Sense"--a film I hadn't particularly wanted to see that blew me away. On the other hand, I was looking forward to "Brokedown Palace." Maybe I'm comparing it unfairly to classics--both new and old--but it fell short of my expectations.

Alice and Darlene (Claire Danes and Kate Beckinsale respectively) are lifelong friends who have just graduated from high school, and want to take one special vacation together to celebrate. Their vacation to Thailand seems a dream come true--especially when they meet a charming, young Australian named Nick Parks (Daniel Lapaine). Unfortunately, Parks' proposed weekend trip to Hong Kong isn't what it seems, and the two young women find themselves trying to negotiate a foreign judicial system--their only hope being Henry Greene (Bill Pullman)--a sleazy, expatriate lawyer.

"Brokedown Palace" is in many ways reminiscent of "Red Corner;" both films have a similar plotline where Americans are framed and at the mercy of foreign criminal justice system that has much more criminal than justice about it. Now the problem: does justice prevail despite the corrupt system, or do the heroes rot in jail? "Red Corner" never solved the problem--the end seemed contrived. The end of "Brokedown Palace" works much more smoothly. Though there is a question about what will happen to one of the characters, it works fairly well. In fact, the story held my interest throughout the film. The plot takes a number of unexpected turns--with unexpected windfalls and disasters.

The film also has some nice touches. There's the ironic comment (and I have no idea if it's true) that the name "Thai" means "freedom," for instance. Another touch is how Alice and Darlene are often shown behind bars in some form or another--it's been done before, but it helps reinforce the idea of their imprisonment in this film. The names of the characters are also appropriate--at least, if you look up the names' meanings.

Despite everything it has going for it, "Brokedown Palace" has many problems. There are too many scenes where Darlene and Alice scream "I didn't do it" at each other. There is also a character transformation that isn't credible--a questionable individual who becomes convinced of the justice of the young women's case. Also, while the film holds your interest for its length, that's all it does; when it's over, there's nothing particularly thought provoking about it that will make you give it a second thought.

"Brokedown Palace" is probably a poor choice for children. There is one brief scene with nudity, and some violence (mostly threats of violence). There is also a great deal of strong language and some instances of on-screen drug use.

"Brokedown Palace" isn't as thought provoking as I hoped it would be. The overriding message of the movie seems to be "don't go to Thailand." (I noticed at the end of the movie that it was filmed in the Philippines.) Nor is "Brokedown Palace" the best movie playing; but it's worth seeing--at least, if you already wanted to see it


Title: "Brokedown Palace"
Release date: August 13, 1999
MPAA rating: PG-13
Overall rating: ***
Aprox. run time: 101 min.
Director: Jonathan Kaplan
Writers: Adam Fields (story), David Arata (story and screenplay)
Stars: Claire Danes, Kate Beckinsale, Bill Pullman

Original URL: http://www.geocities.com/reviewsbyjohn/BrokePal.htm
Added to blog site: 7/26/09