British actor Peter Howitt wrote and directed this British romantic comedy-drama with a "road not taken" premise recalling the 1921 play If by Lord Dunsany (1878-1957),
Frank Capra's
It's a Wonderful Life (1946), and O.Henry's short story Roads of Destiny (1909). Howitt's storyline branches in two directions: Helen (
Gwyneth Paltrow) loses her job at a classy London PR firm, has a run-in with a purse-snatcher, and finds her boyfriend Gerry (
John Lynch) in bed with his former girlfriend Lydia (
Jeanne Tripplehorn). But what if it were one of those days when everything goes right? As the sliding doors close while she stands on a subway platform in the London underground, Helen ponders the events in her alternate reality. The plot of Lord Dunsany's If also hinges on a future determined by catching or missing a train. Sliding Doors was shown at the 1998 Sundance Film Festival. ~ Bhob Stewart, All Movie Guide