Brokedown Palace (1999)

Two women are arrested for smuggling while vacationing in Thailand.

Director:

Jonathan Kaplan

Writers:

Adam Fields (story), David Arata (story)

Stars:

Claire Danes, Kate Beckinsale, Bill Pullman

1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Claire Danes	...	Alice Marano
Kate Beckinsale	...	Darlene Davis
Bill Pullman	...	Hank Greene
Jacqueline Kim	...	Yon Greene
Lou Diamond Phillips	...	Roy Knox
Daniel Lapaine	...	Nick Parks
Tom Amandes	...	Doug Davis
Aimee Graham	...	Beth Ann Gardener
John Doe	...	Bill Marano
Kay Tong Lim	...	Chief Detective Jagkrit
Beulah Quo	...	Guard Velie
Henry O	...	Emissary to Crown
Bahni Turpin	...	Jamaican Prisoner
Amanda De Cadenet	...	English Prisoner
Inthira Charoenpura	...	Prisoner Shub (as Intira Jaroenpura)

Storyline

Alice and Darlene, best friends, decide to take a trip to Thailand to celebrate high-school graduation. While there, they are befriended by charming Australian rogue Nick Parks. Nick convinces them to take a weekend side trip to Hong Kong, but at the airport, they are busted for smuggling drugs. They are convicted in a show trial and sentenced to 33 years; in desperation, they contact Yankee Hank, an American lawyer based in Thailand who has been reported to be helpful if you've got the cash.

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Plot Keywords:

f rated | frame up | bangkok thailand | teenage girl | innocence | 

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Taglines:

A perfect summer/A perfect stranger/A perfect set up

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Genres:

Drama | Mystery | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for brief strong language, drug related material and some violent content

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English Thai

Release Date:

13 August 1999 (USA)

Also Known As:

Two Girls

Filming Locations:

Bangkok, Thailand

Box Office

Budget:

$25,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$3,871,616, 15 August 1999

Gross USA:

$10,115,013

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$10,115,013

Company Credits

Production Co:

Fox 2000 Pictures, Adam Fields Productions, Twentieth Century Fox

Technical Specs

Runtime:

100 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital DTS SDDS

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.39 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

In an interview Claire Danes complained about the conditions in the Philippines, heat, humidity, filthy, cockroaches, poor and disabled people. She subsequently was declared "persona non grata" by the Philippine government and barred from entering the country.

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Goofs

When the girls are being escorted out of the airport, you can see a large crowd of people behind a waiting line rope. These are most likely local residents who clamored to get a glimpse of the movie while being filmed as all of them are clearly watching the scenario as it unfolds.

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Quotes

[first lines]
'Yankee' Hank Green: I scheduled the hearing for the Burmese.

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Connections

Featured in The Rotten Tomatoes Show: Star Trek/Rudo y Cursi/Next Day Air (2009)

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Soundtracks

Rock the Casbah
Written by Topper Headon, Mick Jones, Paul Simonon and Joe Strummer
Performed by Solar Twins
Courtesy of Maverick Recording Company

User Reviews

Cold, hard truth

I'm a little surprised by the negative criticism this film is attracting.

I'm old enough to be the father of the two main characters; they seemed like accurately drawn teenage girls to me. And I've probably hung out with both of their fathers before. I've been to the Far East. I've stayed in both better and worse places than the girls stayed. I had the pleasure of seeing the inside of a police station after I was robbed. I'm glad I had no more direct exposure to the local judicial system than that; that was more than enough. Everything in this movie seems awfully familiar to me.

I think "Brokedown Palace" represents something pretty close to stark realism. It certainly reminded me of Asia.

Of course it's true that the attitudes of the girls often don't do much to improve their situation. But they are meant to be an example of what not to do overseas. And the portrayal of some of the Thais did make me uncomfortable. But then many of my own personal travel anecdotes don't paint a complimentary picture either.

This is a cautionary tale. An unfortunate consequence of too many people having too much money to spend these days is that you will find unescorted, unprepared, "streetwise", naive young people popping up in places where they have no business being. And when that happens, you end up with situations mirroring this movie.

I suspect people choose to denigrate this one because they are too embarrassed to accept how true it is, and how vulnerable they would be if placed in similar circumstances.