Sliding Doors (1998)

An enchanting, thought-provoking, and romantic "what if?" story that trades on the precarious nature of relationships, betrayal, and fate. It's a dramatic comedy and a subtle psychological musing on encouragement, environment and self-esteem.
The movie begins with a sunny Helen (Gwyneth Paltrow) kissing her boyfriend good morning in bed then hurrying off to her job at a London public relations firm -- where she is immediately fired. Distressed and dejected, she returns to the subway, heading home for some sympathy snuggles from the beau. Running toward the platform as her train's doors close, Helen's life forks into two different realities, and "Sliding Doors" follows them both.
In one existence she just barely makes the train, getting home in time to catch her bastard boyfriend Jerry (John Lynch) in bed with another woman. But in the other, the train's doors close in her face, leading to a rotten karma domino effect, the crux of which is Jerry's continued philandering behind her back.
At this point, you might think "Sliding Doors" would get convoluted. But with a remarkably nimble narrative hand, director Peter Howitt navigates these two stories and never loses the audience for a moment.
For the Helen who makes the train, she moves in with her attentive best friend, symbolically cuts and dyes her drab hair and meets a winsome, witty Mr. Right, played with categorical charm by John Hannah.
But the Helen who misses the train finds herself in a rut. Besides sustaining an increasingly indifferent relationship with Jerry, she can't seem to find a new job and ends up a victim of the Other Woman's scorn to boot.
The single and empowered Helen shows just exactly how destructive to a partner cheating is, without being preachy on the subject. The having your cake and eating it to may precipitate crises for the perpetrator, but it is really an ugly thing to do to someone you care about.
"Sliding Doors" balances its two stories with such smooth dexterity that is has no problem even overlapping them occasionally, just for fun. The ending is a little disappointing, but so it goes, it does not really mar this engaging film.