Sliding Doors MPAA Rating: R Entertainment: +2 1/2 Content: -1 1/2

There is a moment in everyone's life in which they wonder what would have happened if they had only done this, or not done that. Sliding Doors shows what happens to one woman, Helen (Gwyneth Paltrow) in that deciding moment of time that some call destiny. In parallel stories, the movie follows Helen's life down two paths. In one scenario, Helen catches the subway and makes it home in time to find her boyfriend, Gerry (John Lynch) in bed with another woman. She leaves him and falls in love with James (John Hannah) and opens her own public relations firm. In another scenario, she misses the train, gets mugged, and just misses finding her boyfriend with the other woman. She is forced to take a job as a waitress and finds out she is pregnant. However, both worlds collide in the end when Helen is struck down by a car.

SLIDING DOORS is an off-beat, utterly unpredictable romantic story. Sophisticated, worldly young adults will probably enjoy it. It's too bad that this film is riddled with 50 obscenities and 20 profanities. With over 14 variations of crude references to sexual activity, the romance gets lost in a sea of filth. In addition, there are two sex scenes in which the couples are shown in bed together. One is very graphic although there is no nudity. Helen and her boyfriend, Gerry live together and when she gets pregnant, she considers abortion as an option. And she does drink while she is pregnant. The only violence in SLIDING DOORS takes place when Helen is mugged and she later gets hit off-screen by a car. Those incidents, however, are neither gratuitous nor gory. Most of the objectionable material lies with the language and sexual dialogue. It's too bad Miramax could not have toned it down a tad.

Preview Reviewer: Sherry Oswald
Distributor: Miramax Films, 375 Greenwich, NY NY 10013