Brokedown Palace (1999)
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31% of critics liked it
(35 reviews) -
65% of users liked it
(37,501 ratings)
Two carefree Americans embark on an overseas vacation that soon becomes a nightmare in this powerful drama. Alice (Claire Danes) is a headstrong teenager who wants to do something different to celebrate her high school graduation, so she persuades her more reserved best friend Darlene (Kate… More Two carefree Americans embark on an overseas vacation that soon becomes a nightmare in this powerful drama. Alice (Claire Danes) is a headstrong teenager who wants to do something different to celebrate her high school graduation, so she persuades her more reserved best friend Darlene (Kate Beckinsale) to join her on a trip to Bangkok. While enjoying sun and scenery, Alice and Darlene meet Nick Parks (Daniel Lapaine), a charming Australian who shows them the sights and sweet-talks Darlene into a romantic assignation, which is something of a surprise to her bolder friend Alice. Nick then suggests that they join him on a side trip to Hong Kong, but they soon discover that Nick's interest has been neither friendly nor romantic: he has hidden a large amount of heroin in their luggage and is using them as drug runners without their knowledge. When the heroin is found by customs officials, Alice and Darlene are quickly tried and sentenced to 33 years in a hideous prison known to inmates as Broke-Down Palace. Their plight comes to the attention of "Yankee Hank" (Bill Pullman), a renegade American attorney in Asia, but while Hank struggles with the court system to get Alice and Darlene released, they must deal with the living hell of life behind bars, and their own doubts about each other. Brokedown Palace was directed by Jonathan Kaplan, who previously dealt with judicial injustice in The Accused and teens in difficult circumstances in Over the Edge. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
- Directed By
- Jonathan Kaplan
- Written By
- Adam Fields, David Arata
- Genres
- Mystery & Suspense, Drama
- In Theaters
- Aug 13, 1999 Wide
- Studio
- Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment
Critic Reviews
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James Sanford, Kalamazoo Gazette
about as thrilling as a long line at customs. The screenplay (is)apparently based on those recorded warnings played in airports... Danes and Beckinsale struggle to bring some conviction to a story sorely in need of it.
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John J. Puccio, Movie Metropolis
Everything is so one-sided, so stacked against the two women, that it's hard to take any of it seriously.
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Chuck Rudolph, Matinee Magazine
Offensively stupid.
See more critic ratings and reviews on Rotten Tomatoes
Fresh (60% or more critics rated the movie positively)
Rotten (59% or fewer critics rated the movie positively)
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Cast
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Claire Danes
as Alice Marano
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Kate Beckinsale
as Darlene Davis
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Bill Pullman
as Hank Greene
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Jacqueline Kim
as Yon Greene
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Lou Diamond Phillips
as Roy Knox
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Daniel Lapaine
as Nick Parks
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Tom Amandes
as Doug Davis
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Aimee Graham
as Beth Ann Gardener
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John Doe
as Bill Marano
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Kay Tong Lim
as Chief Detective Jagkrit
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Amanda De Cadenet
as English Prisoner
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Paul Walker
as (uncredited) Jason
- Bahni Turpin
- Beulah Quo
- Henry O
- Intira Jaroenpura
