Brokedown Palace

Brokedown Palace

69% Liked It
liked it

Brokedown Palace

Bill Pullman, Claire Danes, Kate Beckinsale, Lou Diamond Phillips

Alice (Claire Danes) and Darlene (Kate Beckinsale) are best friends on their post-high-school whirlwind vacation. Telling their parents they're off for Hawaii, they head instead to Thailand, where the...( read more  read more... )y stay at a $6-a-night dive and sneak drinks at a posh hotel. They both fall sway to the charms of a handsome Australian (Daniel Lapaine), who invites them to Hong Kong. Off they go, although unbeknownst to them (or is it? this question is never fully answered), one of them has heroin in her backpack. Sentenced to 33 years in a Thai jail, they find their friendship begins to deteriorate as their trust in each other fades. They enlist the help of Yankee Hank (Bill Pullman), a greedy but knowledgeable American lawyer living in Asia.

The main flaws of this film are the capital-L lessons: friendship is powerful, don't trust strangers, nice girls shouldn't drink and sleep around. The film's bleakest moments, in the jail, aren't all that bad, and in this respect Brokedown Palace has nothing on the intensity of films such as Midnight Express or even Return to Paradise. Yet Danes and Beckinsale prove they are strong actresses, and their characters' friendship is suitably complex and believable. --Jenny Brown

Id: 10901135

Do you want to see this movie?

My Friends Said...


Recent Reviews


  • August 12, 2007
    ....................beautiful, yet flawed.....................
  • July 1, 2007
    A very good film based on true events. Great performances from both actressess. Has a made for TV feel to it but the story is good and well told. One of those films you never heard of before that turns out to be very good. Cool soundtrack to.
  • January 5, 2007
    thought it was a good movie
  • November 7, 2006
    Wonderful roles by Beckinsale and Danes.
  • December 8, 2009
    If you've seen one girls-in-foreign-country-planted-with-drugs-and-thrown-in-prison movie, you've seen 'em all. Problem is that while most of those predecessors are nudie shlockfests, this one wants to be taken seriously.
  • November 11, 2009
    Interesting story, fine performances throughout. I never lost interest in the film, but there are a few slow moving patches. Good cinematography. It?s never fully convincing, but it?s still good storytelling.
  • September 5, 2009
    "What is your dream? How far would you go? Who could you trust? "
  • July 23, 2009
    (1999 Director: Jonathan Kaplan)
  • July 17, 2009
    Put me off going to thailand
  • July 8, 2009
    want to see again... its been a while since ive seen it

Opening This Week

Top Box Office

Upcoming Movies

New on DVD