sliding doors

the movie starts with a very interesting idea: a woman is going about her day when she misses the subway train by a fraction of a second. now, what would have happened if she had made that train? this concept is played out in the movie, and it leads to two very distinct lives for her. if she made it home she would have found her boyfriend in bed with another woman, leading to their break-up and her finding someone new. if she missed the train she would not have caught her boyfriend, and instead, she would have stayed in the bad relationship and continued on with her unhappy life. great idea, not a great execution. the two alternating stories are told intermixed, which leads to quite a some confusion as we watch. at least until she decides to cut and color her hair in one of the stories. the problem with the movie, though, is that both stories fall pretty flat. sure, he is happier in one than the other, but neither story is very well told. and the ending is a pretty cheap concession in order to allow for an ending to the two tales. too bad, it held so much promise.