Brokedown Palace
Directed by Jonathan
Kaplan
Starring Claire Danes, Kate
Beckinsale, Bill Pullman
Brokedown Palace, the new movie starring Claire Danes (Romeo + Juliet, Mod Squad) and Kate Beckinsale (Cold Comfort Farm), opens with a strange piece of music that crosses an Asian-influenced New Age theme with a strong dance rhythm. Neither typical film score nor MTV video material, the music sums up the problem Brokedown Palace is likely to face: who is the audience for this film? On the one hand, the cast and marketing highlight the teen angle, with the gloriously beautiful Claire Danes hogging the spotlight. On the other hand, the movie is slow and deliberative, with much more drama than usually found in a teen flick.
The basic plot is two teenage girls get thrown in prison for a crime they probably didn't commit. Unfortunately, the prison is in Thailand, which is inherently corrupt (so the movie tells us). It's up to Bill Pullman, an American lawyer to get them out. While the story is fairly derivative and the acting is just average (how disappointing that Beckinsale can't replay her fabulous character from Cold Comfort Farm), the movie should be lauded for taking some chances. Neither innocent angels nor corrupt criminals, the three main characters are complex, likable and yet flawed in the way real people are. Pullman's lawyer is particularly ambiguous; sometimes sleazy, sometimes altruistic. And Jonathan Kaplan (The Accused) directs in subtle shades of red, yellow and brown.
In the end, though, the movie just isn't compelling enough to hold our attention. And those hoping for the more prurient aspects of women-in-prison movies will be sorely disappointed.
J Robert Parks
