huggibear I had seen this movie years ago and didn't remember it until I just saw it again. I wanted to watch it to see the earlier cuteness of Kate Beckinsale. Now I can rate this movie since I'm into this sort of thing now. This is the kind of movie you just have to watch and form your own opinion of it because the story line is cut & dry and if I said anything about it, it would include spoilers and I can't do that here. But in a nutshell, 2 graduates decide to take a trip out of the country before they head into college. Something happens that prevents their return. The end takes a very unique approach to partially solving the problem they encounter. It was tremendously touching how it ends. Would you do the same thing for your friend, if you were caught up in that kind of situation? Now I've intrigued you to watch it. Go ahead, I believe you will like it.

SnoopyStyle Ex pat American Henry 'Yankee Hank' Greene (Bill Pullman) receives a tape from Alice pleading her case. Life long friends Darlene Davis (Kate Beckinsale) and irresponsible Alice Marano (Claire Danes) traveled to Thailand after high school graduation before leaving for college. They are befriended by charming hustler Australian Nick Parks (Daniel Lapaine) who rescued them at a high class hotel. Darlene started going with Nick and convinced Alice to travel to Hong Kong. Two tins of heroin are slipped into Alice's bag and the girls are interrogated by the police. Darlene is tricked into signing a false conviction in Thai. Darlene's father (Tom Amandes) believes that Alice is guilty. They are both sentenced to 33 years. Embassy staff Roy Knox (Lou Diamond Phillips) is too jaded to find Nick Park.The movie doesn't really work until the girls get arrested. That's when things start to get interesting. Before that, the girls are simple, naive and entitled. The movie is better to condense that section much more. That part is predictably bland. The girls' relationship gets better and more complicated in prison. Overall, there are other better third world prison movies around.

sddavis63 My real quibble with this movie is that it seems - strangely enough - to portray conditions in a third world jail that are just a little too comfortable. At least that's my sense - having never been in a third world jail I can't honestly say what the conditions were like. Still, what was shown here was prison, sure, but it didn't look like the absolute hell hole I would have expected.That aside, this is an interesting film from a number of angles. The first is the drug smuggling angle, and the depiction of how lost as a foreigner you can be when you find yourself at the mercy of a justice system that you don't understand and that seems stacked against you. Darlene and Alice (Kate Beckinsale and Claire Danes) are a couple of American girls, newly graduated form high school, who celebrate by taking the trip of a lifetime to Thailand. Unfortunately, they get unwittingly caught up in a drug smuggling scheme and get sent to prison, and it seems that hopes for their release are pretty much zero, unless a local American lawyer (Bill Pullman) can pull some rabbit out of his hat. The portrayal of the Thai justice system isn't complimentary to the Thais - and take note. Saying "I'm an American citizen. I have rights!" gets you nowhere. This was a decent portrayal of the system, and a look at drug smuggling and the tactics that very well could be used.More interesting, though, is the study of the friendship between Alice and Darlene - a friendship that is tested by this. Lifelong friends, Alice has historically been the bad girl of the pair, with Darlene the good & respectable one. But it's Darlene who gets the pair into this mess by letting herself get swept off her feet by the smuggler, and in the end, the story turns into a powerful one of sacrifice as the girls' friendship is ultimately demonstrated by a noble and unselfish act on the part of Alice, who (bad girl past aside) was the one who WAS NOT responsible. In fact, the last 15 minutes of the movie are the most powerful scenes here.Overall, I can't say that I found this to be the most exciting movie ever made - which is perhaps appropriate. Life in a third world jail probably isn't "exciting." But it is an interesting look at friendship and how far friends will go for each other. (6/10)

Dragoneyed363 Where should I begin with how much I cherish and praise this absolute masterpiece? Let me start off with how I came upon it; I remember it perfectly. I was staying the night at my sister's house one night, and it was after she and my nephew had fallen asleep that I had watched a few films already and still really had nothing better to do, but was not going to sleep any time soon. I was sorting through her DVD collection, searching for films I had not seen before, and luckily enough stumbled onto this film. I had never heard of it, and though this might sound crazy, I felt drawn to the film. I mean, I really loved the cover, and I really love a lot of Asian themed films, and so I read the brief description on the back of the case and decided it sounded decent enough to pass the time. Since it had Claire Danes, who I love in every movie she has been in, except maybe Romeo + Juliet which I had not seen at the time, I decided it would be entertaining. Giving this movie a chance was one of the best decisions I have ever made in my life, and I am not exaggerating. It is simply perfect, flawless, in my opinion, in every way possible and fully deserves any positive recognition it receives, plus all the other recognition it should have received and should be receiving now.First of all, it is executed so much better than any other film I have ever seen, and was so beautifully crafted and put together with perfect performances and poignancy that it makes my head spin. I was so entranced in the story and I am amazed at how perfect I believe this movie to be. It is sheer brilliance from beginning to end. It has the perfect atmosphere of intensity and brilliance that keeps me entranced in it from the get-go. The performances are perfect. Claire Danes does wonderfully as Alice, and her splendid portrayal was perfect with enough sincerity and an amazing climax scene that goes down as my favorite scene in cinema history. Kate Beckinsale is perfect, and her character, while annoying some reviewers, did not annoy me one bit. Bill Pullman is perfect, and I have never really cared for him at all. Jacqueline Kim is perfect. Lou Diamond Phillips is perfect. I could list the entire cast, but I am sure you get the point I am trying to prove by now.It has an excellent plot with authenticity and pain, rending the viewer helpless to submit to every kind of emotion they intend you to submit to. I love how it unfolds; them wanting to have a more memorable vacation by going somewhere exotic, meeting and becoming infatuated with Nick Parks or "Skip", and then how they are thrown in jail for heroin that neither of them claims to know how it got into their luggage, and their lives are slowly turned upside down on a vacation that was supposed to be their last great time together. It is so achingly beautiful. I love the whole backstory at the beginning, and it immediately clicks with me and I know these two girls' lives and traits, which is why I care for them so much throughout the entire remainder of the film. It inspires sympathy in the utmost manner for them. Nothing is superficial or played out about it, because the way it is told is like everything is fresh and new to our senses. It is grotesque without being violent, it is heartbreaking without being depressing, and all the material you think is irrelevant is revealed as being important pieces of the puzzle little by little.All the troubles and faults that go on in the prison make me pull my hair out and grit my teeth. The cruel inmate that causes Alice to be punished, the failed escape, the cockroach in Darlene's ear. Those poor girls; I wish I could help them. It is not as violent as it could be, but it did not need to be to berelevant. I know this is sometimes compared to A Midnight Express and Return to Paradise, and a few other drug-smuggling in foreign regions films, but I can assure you, in my honest opinion, none compare to the brilliant execution and poignancy of this magnificent work of art. The soundtrack is even perfect as well. I love "Rock the Casbah", "Silence", "Damaged", "Party" and then "Deliver Me" is positively beautiful, and a perfect song choice to an absolutely wonderful ending, which brings me to my next appraise. I am baffled by the movies last minutes. The best climax/ending in cinematic history, and the most effective, in my honest opinion. The movie's ending made me cry my eyes out, but the song just added on to the tears. There is the cliffhanger that just makes this movie even more amazing. You never know if Alice did it or if she didn't, you just know she did what she had to do set her friend free in the end, and after all, that's all the matters, is it not? All of this does not even begin to explain how perfect I think it is. It is extremely underrated, not winning one award and is hardly conversed about in today's film society, and a hidden gem for anyone who has seen it and loved it. It is a beautiful, perfect movie with a powerful message and incredible entertainment value. It has been my favorite movie for awhile now, and I believe that I might not find another movie that I love as much as it anytime soon.I know my comment may be a little cheesy, but I mean every word... Two thumbs way up!