On B List of Movie Reviews
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Brokedown Palace (1999)
Rate:
8
Viewed:
11/02, 10/23
10/23:
Midnight Express is the gold standard, and Brokedown Palace does a decent job of coming close to it.
The story is essentially the same: a U.S. citizen goes to a foreign country, gets arrested for drug smuggling, and is therefore
sentenced decades in prison. This time, it concerns two recent female high school graduates. I don't sympathize
with them and can tell how Yankee Hank was feeling about their situation which is indifferent in a
yeah-I've-seen-all-of-this-before way.
It's an interesting moment when Darlene's father was waving at Alice and telling her in a smiling way, "I hope you're proud
of yourself. You're a schemer. You're a manipulator. And you think that I don't know you? You are dead wrong. The only thing
that has ever come out of your mouth is lies." It made me think that there's much more to the story. Unfortunately,
the movie won't go that far enough.
No matter what, it's a compelling tale. I saw Brokedown Palace in 2002 and had never forgotten it. The acting is generally
good. Claire Danes is okay for the most part, but I don't care much for her or Kate Beckinsale's characters. It's the idea of
being stuck in a foreign country for a crime that's better off committed in the United States that grips me. Of course,
the whole thing is believable as it has happened to some American females in Thailand.
All in all, Brokedown Palace is the female version of Midnight Express.