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Reviews
Brokedown Palace (1999)
Midnight Express in skirts
Brokedown Palace is very interesting. Its idea is not exactly original. It shows American citizens being mistakenly arrested for drug dealing in orient countries (this time Thailand) with severe laws regarding drugs. We've seen in wonderful Oscar-winning picture Midnight Express, and recently in Return to Paradise. But what is indeed new to "Palace" is that the characters this time are "young ladies" Claire Danes and Kate Beckinsale. That brings a whole new element to the story: since they're girls, the script allows itself to show cleverly the union, envy, jealous and secrets between them inside the prison. Thus, the spectator is never really sure of who's guilty or not. Director Jonathan Kaplan deals very well with the story and the cast, that also includes Bill Pullman as a Thai lawyer. I think the plot jumps too soon from the heart of the story to the climax. It could have been a bit more developed. Brokedown Palace will never be as good as Midnight Express, but it has enough freshness and good suspense to be rated as a worth watching flick.
The Defenders: Payback (1997)
Pretty Much a TV movie with a polemic subject
This movie is just about what TV movies are: supposed to get your attention but without breath to become solid or original entertainment. The plot is about two lawyers who defend a guy involved in a interesting and polemic (even if it's a cliche) case. The accused's daughter was raped, the raper served only 4 years and, feeling it was not enough, the father murders the raper when the later returns to live in the same neighbourhood after prison. So, is he morally guilty ? In the cast, should be mentioned that lovely and talented teen actress Rachael Leigh Cook is the girl raped. She's the best thing among other veterans.
Lebensborn (1997)
This is certainly different
You certainly can accuse Lebensborn of being a cliché movie, like it or not. It's wise to know that the movie is controversial from the very beginning to the very last (and surprising) scene. The plot is about two twins who get in college and start to realize that a process of generating arian babies through genetic research is being held at the campus. They get kinda lost, because in a way the process is making their lives easier, though it's morally incorrect especially because of its connection with the nazi concepts. I certainly don't know where this movie came from (it "appeared" in brazilian cable), but wherever it was, it's underrated.