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Claire Danes, Kate Beckinsale, Bill Pullman, Jacqueline Kim, Lou Diamond Phillips ... see more see more... , Daniel Lapaine , Tom Amandes , Aimee Graham , John Doe , Kay Tong Lim , Amanda De Cadenet , Paul Walker , Bahni Turpin , Beulah Quo , Henry O , Intira Jaroenpura

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 celebra... read more read more...te 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

Flixster Users

65% liked it

37,023 ratings

Critics

31% liked it

35 critics

PG-13, 1 hr. 40 min.

Directed by: Jonathan Kaplan

Release Date: August 13, 1999

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DVD Release Date: December 18, 2001

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Stats: 1,242 reviews

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Flixster Reviews (1,242)

  • TheDudeLebowski65
    August 28, 2011
    TheDudeLebowski65
    Brokedown Palace is a powerful drama film about two friends that are accused of drug smuggling and are sentenced to spend 33 years in prison. The prison they are sent to is nicknamed "broke down palace", and it's a prison that has an awful reputation. Brokedown Palace has a very ... read moregood cast of actors, and I have to say, Kate Beckinsale really shines here, considering her body of work. This one of her best films, and I also thought that Claire Danes was terrific as well. Some parts of the film are uneven, but for the most part this is a very good drama film that is held together by the performances of its two leads. This is good film, one that has a good story. If you ever get the chance of watching Brokedown Palace, you should give it a shot. I normally don't care much for Beckinsale, although I liked in her in some of the films I've seen her in, this is a good little film. The film is nothing that will make you write home about, but for what its, it's a well made drama film that has an engaging story. Where the film tends to lack is when the two friends start questioning each other, once they're in prison. I felt that it was a bit too dramatic, but it was still good nonetheless. They could've just toned it down slightly, I think. A good film that has a few imperfections, but it has an engaging and interesting story with above decent acting. An interesting drama film worth seeing at least once.
  • deano
    December 18, 2007
    deano
    This women prison drama is powerful as the acting is excellent and the photography is stunning.
  • superclerk25
    August 2, 2007
    superclerk25
    This is a pretty good drama and the casting was great. I like that it lets you decide for yourself who did what at the end. It was a complete story.
  • Deano78
    July 1, 2007
    Deano78
    A very good film based on true events. Great performances from both actressess. Has a made for TV feel to it but the story is good and well told. One of those films you never heard of before that turns out to be very good. Cool soundtrack to.
  • dreamfaeries
    November 7, 2006
    dreamfaeries
    Wonderful roles by Beckinsale and Danes.
  • mrbungle7821
    February 23, 2006
    mrbungle7821
    [font=Arial][color=darkred]Foolish teens today, thinking they can smuggle [/color][/font][font=Arial][color=darkred]drugs into East Asiatic countries and get away with it. Foolish screenwriter for thinking we haven't seen this exact same situation done many times before and done ... read moremany times better. And foolish audience for actually paying to go see this.[/color][/font]

    [font=Arial][color=darkred]The movie desperately tries to be an emotional tale of the chains of friendship and perseverence, and it uses earlier examples like 'Midnite Express' and 'Return to Paradise' as staples. But the movie is devoid of emotion all together because of one glaring fault in the flick: the girls are complete idiots! Do they not have anything in their heads? Through out the whole movie they're given cliched and horrendous dialogue to spurt which certainitely doesn't help them rise from the intellectual pit they are in.[/color][/font]

    [font=Arial][color=darkred]You can't feel any attachment or connection becuase they are just so incompetent that on some cosmic level it's almost like they deserve what they get. And they didn't get much. The ending is rather ludicrous because it tries to have this strong emotional force but is only a whimper because there was never any attachment to the shallow and stupid characters in the first place.[/color][/font]

    [font=Arial][color=darkred]It's a common practice in movies to put the characters through harrowing and dangerous circumstances so that the audience will pull for them and be drawn closer to them emotionally. And in this genre nothing can do that like the good ole' Asiatic inhuman prison system so monstrously shown in previous films. But I don't know where these girls went or who their travel agent was, because where they stay is like the Club Med of all those horrible Asian prisons. They're almost livin' it up for some inhuman hell hole. It almost looks attractive to go to, do they have a brochure?[/color][/font]

    [font=Arial][color=darkred]The women-in-prison genre is a classic cheesy late night televison smorgusborg of gratuitous nudity and shower sequences that are almost the entire purpose of the film; which they are. 'Brokedown Palace' certanitely isn't going to go down this route. You won't see Claire Danes spounging off Kate Beckinsale's body during an on mass shower, or see the tough lesbian guard who runs her shop tight and mean, or the tough lesbian rival in the jail cells. What you do get is a script that tries to garner emotion but instead can only grasp for cheap mellodrama.[/color][/font]

    [font=Arial][color=darkred]Nate's Grade: C [/color][/font]
  • DrStrangeblog
    December 8, 2009
    DrStrangeblog
    If you've seen one girls-in-foreign-country-planted-with-drugs-and-thrown-in-prison movie, you've seen 'em all. Problem is that while most of those predecessors are nudie shlockfests, this one wants to be taken seriously.
  • virgincrow
    June 14, 2008
    virgincrow
    Really not so good. way too long of a boring buildup with a lackluster ending. also the backround music just lays a veneer of cheap to the entire film. not the worst movie I've ever seen, but pretty bad overall.
  • SunilJawahir
    June 6, 2008
    SunilJawahir
    This movie is not perfect but it's dark and different and Claire Danes is great in it.
  • leekyle1968
    May 27, 2008
    leekyle1968
    This is another one of the movies i can watch over and over again. Claire Danes was really good in this with an excellent storyline!

View All Brokedown Palace Reviews

Critic Reviews

James Sanford
June 21, 2002
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 sor... Full Review

Chuck Rudolph
March 8, 2002
Chuck Rudolph, Matinee Magazine

Offensively stupid. Full Review

Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat
February 28, 2002
Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat, Spirituality and Practice

Explores friendship as a school of virtue where trust and honesty are always tested. Full Review

John J. Puccio
April 7, 2001
John J. Puccio, Movie Metropolis

...trite, implausible, and annoying.

Scott Weinberg
January 1, 2000
Scott Weinberg, eFilmCritic.com

Teenage girls whine and pout in prison. Not as fun as it sounds. Full Review

David Luty
January 1, 2000
David Luty, Film Journal International

Far messier and more corrupt than the society it attempts to portray. Full Review

Michael Dequina
January 1, 2000
Michael Dequina, TheMovieReport.com

Perky print ads for this gravely earnest drama suggest a cosmetics campaign and, ironically enough, end up painting a more accurate picture of what the film is really like. Full Review

Dustin Putman
January 1, 2000
Dustin Putman, DustinPutman.com

A glossy Hollywoodization of a serious subject that is as far from the bright lights of Hollywood as could possibly be. Full Review

Lisa Schwarzbaum
September 7, 2011
Lisa Schwarzbaum, Entertainment Weekly

Click to read the article Full Review

Todd McCarthy
June 17, 2008
Todd McCarthy, Variety

Click to read the article Full Review

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