Movie Guys: ‘Brokedown Palace’ just simply can’t be fixed

Friday, Aug. 13, 1999 | 9:40 a.m.

Grades: Jeff, D; Dave, D.

Starring: Claire Danes, Kate Beckinsale, Bill Pullman, Jacqueline Kim and Lou Diamond Phillips.

Directed by: Jonathan Kaplan.

Screenplay by: David Arata.

Rated: PG-13 for language, adult situations and violence.

Running time: 100 minutes.

Playing at: Regal Cinemas Texas Station 18, Regal Cinemas Sunset Station 13, Regal Cinemas Village Square 18, Regal Cinemas Colonnade 14, Las Vegas Drive-In, Cinedome 12 Las Vegas, Cinedome 12 Henderson, Century Desert, UA Showcase mall, UA Rainbow Promenade.

Synopsis:

Two young high school graduates, Alice and Darlene, travel across the Pacific Ocean to the golden land of Thailand for what promises to be a liberating adventure. While they're having the time of their lives things take an unfortunate turn when they are caught up in a maelstrom of confusion and betrayal, sending them to a Thai prison properly referred to as "Brokedown Palace."

Dave: I remember when I was fresh out of high school, on the brink of turning 18, and thinking to myself, "Wow, a trip to Thailand would be the perfect way to celebrate my graduation." Of course, all my friends were talking up Hawaii as if it were the ideal vacation destination that would end all other choices. But not me, no way! I was venturing to the mysterious and exotic land named after the very thing I was searching for -- freedom.

Well, OK, I wasn't. I stayed at home and worked for slave wages to earn the tuition for my first year in college. But that is the premise of this anti-dramatic tale about Alice and Darlene (Claire Danes and Kate Beckinsale), two best friends who look for a liberating youthful adventure and travel to eastern Asia only to find hardship and misfortune through their careless mistakes.

Jeff: Coming in right behind the "buddy-cop" premise is the "stupid American trying to smuggle drugs from a Third World country, stripped of all my rights, I'm not in America anymore" premise. Whew! This premise is so tired and over-used. We've seen this before and much more effectively in films such as "Red Corner," "Midnight Express" "Return to Paradise" and many others. What set those films apart from the newly-minted "Brokedown Palace" is the human drama. Our main characters in this film are just stupid, taking a package from an Australian guy, whom they have barley known for a few days, through customs. The characters from the other films mentioned take responsibility for their actions. No one claims innocence. They got caught and must pay the price.

What then unfolds is how they adapt to a ruthless prison life. Alice and Darlene get what they deserve, and the film should end in the first 20 minutes with the fading shot of the two girls working on a Thai chain gang.

Dave: Now, Jeff, you cannot discount that their adolescent minds are not privy to such foreign affairs and mature situations. After all, they are just teenagers looking to celebrate their youth and innocence. They just got a raw deal where justice isn't blind or fair. Which is the perfect entry for the expatriate American lawyer "Yankee Hank" Greene (Bill Pullman), the only one to shine a bit of hope for the two girls. His investigation leads him to discover the corruptive nature within the police department that certainly proves the innocence needed to free his clients.

With limited support from the American Embassy, Hank takes every angle that will gain the girls' freedom. It's the sacrifice by the rebellious Alice that affords them the freedom they had searched for from the very beginning. As Jeff pointed out, the film sports a tired theme, and here it's exaggerated for its intended youthful audience. Supported by a hip, alternative soundtrack to extenuate our youthful heroines' emotional state, and an even more contrived storyline, every plot point is right on cue. First-time feature scribe David Arata inks out a formulaic story that holds as much interest as the question of Alice's future.

Jeff: Remember, Dave, once the girls were arrested, we whispered what would happen next, immediately after they were sentenced to 33 years. We figured that either they would be pardoned, attempt escape, the United States government would intercede, the lawyer would triumph or -- the ending we wanted -- they would rot in jail. With one of those endings a certain fact, we did our best to muster up any interest for the remaining hour of the movie.

But, hey, they were in prison in Thailand. A women's prison, to boot. That should be interesting, maybe we will get to see a couple of cat fights, terrible living conditions, eating bugs to stay alive. No. The prison was just one step below a Triple-A Sleepy Lodge. Everyone got along -- even the guards were humane. This story was inspired by true accounts of Americans being held prisoners. I won't dispute that, or the fact that we should thank our stars and stripes that we have freedom and due process of law in this country, but you get what you deserve when you try to smuggle 20 pounds of heroin through customs in a Thai airport.

The chemistry between the girls is lame at best (both are supposed to be from Ohio, of all places) and Beckinsale and Danes never seemed to click properly. They just looked inconvenienced at times, not fearing for their lives.

Dave: That is probably due to the fact that they were more scared that the audience would convict them, rather than their naive characters facing the Thai government. Filmmaker Jonathan Kaplan ("The Accused") deserves a far better project. He seems anchored to a teen vehicle with his female leads relying more on their polished looks than eliciting any talent as actors. As for Pullman, well, another throwaway performance in yet another summer clunker (i.e., last month's creature feature "Lake Placid"). By the film's end the only thing you'll walk out remembering is the ticket price wasted on what could have bought you the price of admission to (fill in movie here).

Name That Flick

What was the first theatrical cartoon with sound? "Bicycle" Bob Reynolds was the first to correctly answer that it was the 1928 cartoon "Steamboat Willie" with Mickey Mouse. Way to go, Bob!

For this week, who said this and in what film: "First prize is a Cadillac Eldorado. Second prize is a set of steak knives. Third prize is you're fired." (Hint: It was first an award-winning play, then a film.) If you think you know, call the Movie Guys Hotline at 225-9026, or log onto our website at www.themovieguys.com. Be sure to spell your name and if you're the first to answer correctly, we will print your name right here in our column for the entire Las Vegas Valley to read.

See you next week!

The Movie Guys,

starring Jeff Howard and Dave Neil, appears Fridays in the Sun. You can also read their capsule reviews of movies in Las Vegas Weekly magazine. Plus, check them out online at lasvegassun.com/sun/sunlife/movies and themovieguys.com.