Movie Therapy--Sliding Doors

OK, one of my favorite things to talk about--movies! I love movies. I used to play this game with my co-workers when I was waitressing called "movies and actors"--something similar to what they played in the movie "Go"--something to pass the time between clearing plates, waiting for food to come up, etc. I held my own. To play "movies and actors"--one person starts with two actors and a movie they have been in together. For example: Kevin Bacon (because there's that game as well...) and Sarah Jessica Parker (yup!) in Footloose. Then, the next person takes the last actor named (Sarah Jessica Parker) and than can either name another actor in the same movie (John Lithgow is also in Footloose, for example), or another actor SJP stars with in another movie (Steve Martin in L.A. Story, for example). Then the next person takes Steve Martin (or John Lithgow), with the option of saying another actor Steve Martin/John Lithgow stars with in Footloose/LA Story, or an actor that stars in another movie Steve Martin/John Lithgow is in, and off you go. Hours and hours of geeky customer-service industry fun!!! Confused? So am I.

Anyway, there are so many great movies that have mental wellness themes. Every counselor/coach on the planet probably has their list of movies they think would be good "videotherapy" for their clients. I am no exception.

So today, let's talk about a movie that addresses the magic of serendipity and the possible cause of deja-vu, low-grade emotionally abusive relationships, and the hero's journey (most movies are about the hero's journey in one way or another) resulting in a fresh new career. That movie is Sliding Doors.

Starring Gwyneth Paltrow, John Hannah and John Lynch.

In this movie, two alternate realities unfold side-by-side as Helen (played by Paltrow) wakes up one day, goes to work, gets fired and then...misses her train home and doesn't catch her cheating boyfriend in the act in one scenario, and catches her train home and does catch her cheating boyfriend in the act in another. Two stories, side by side. Thank goodness Helen cuts her hair in one scenario so we can keep track!

The last time I saw it I was particularly interested in the dynamics between Helen and her cheating boyfriend played by Lynch (who plays quite a pathetic slimebag in this film but redeems himself as an actor by playing a really wonderful guy in Moll Flanders--with Robin Wright-Penn...and the game goes on!). All the ingredients and clues that you are with a bad dude are there--overreacting when accused of cheating, manipulative co-dependent self-deprecation at the thought of the relationship ending ("I can't write my book without you!"--vomit, but how many times does some version of "I can't live without you" come up in dysfunctional relationship?).

You look at him, and on the surface he's charming and sympathetically lost. But this type is bad news. His best buddy serves as great comic relief by showing Gerry very little sympathy for his "plight."

You have to grant the film its creative license and submit to the ultimate mystery of reality to wrap your head around the ending, but overall Sliding Doors ranks highly on my videotherapy list when it comes to relationships and the magic of happenstance--which is a significant life factor that should be heeded closely. Put it in your DVD queue today.

Onward!