The two women in question are Alice (Claire Danes, The Mod Squad) and Darlene (Kate Beckinsale, The Last Days of Disco). They are both recent high school grads that work as hotel maids in safe, suburban Upland, Ohio. Alice and Darlene plan a summer vacation, but decide that Hawaii is too "middle class" for them. They settle on Thailand after a bottle of beer from that country shatters during a party - talk about a sign from above.

Since "Thailand" actually means "freedom" in English, both girls escape to the Asian paradise, although Darlene still tells her parents that they’re headed for Hawaii. Before long, the duo are squealing at their six-dollar-a-night roach-infested hotel, whining about the unbearable heat, and complaining that the city’s river is contaminated with feces and unsuitable for swimming. Acting? Probably not. Remember the Thai government forcing a real-life apology from Claire Danes after she mewled that the country was full of giant cockroaches, babies with flies buzzing around their heads, and people missing arms and legs?

Before long, the two brats sneak into the pool at a five-star hotel, charging their drinks to a made-up room number. As security closes in on them, a hunky Aussie named Nick Parks (Daniel Lapaine, Dangerous Beauty) saves the day by saying that Alice and Denise are with him. Within twenty-four hours, both girls have fallen for him, are fighting over him, and they decide to meet him in Bangkok for a couple of days after his business weekend in Hong Kong.

Of course, Alice and Darlene don’t know that Nick Parks is really Skip Karns (his alias is an anagram), a drug smuggler that uses naïve Americans as mules to transport his wares. Somehow, two giant tins containing 2 kilos of heroin are sneaked into Alice’s backpack, and both women are immediately dragged off to a dank and even more roach-infested prison and soon found guilty of drug trafficking. So how did the drugs get into Alice’s backpack and how could she not notice the extra weight? Never mind that. The real question is why someone would use an anagram for an alias. And if you need to be that clever, why not use Sink Prank? Or K. Crap Skin?

Enter "Yankee Hank" Green (Bill Pullman, Lake Placid), an expatriate American barrister that agrees to help the prisoners. He tries to talk to the American embassy and its ambassador (played by Lou Diamond Phillips, The Big Hit), but seems only to be spinning his wheels. Hey, speaking of spinning wheels, Palace’s script comes from two debut screenwriters (David Arata and Adam Fields, the latter a producer on Fox’s other box office flop Ravenous) and is directed by the guy who made Bad Girls (Jonathan Kaplan). Credit cinematographer Newton Thomas Sigel for the moody, atmospheric feel to the film.

Other things to keep an eye (or ear) out for are a horrible cover of The Clash’s "Rock the Casbah," a cameo from ex-punk rocker John Doe as Alice’s dad, and one odd moment during the weepy finale where the pixie Brit Beckinsale flubs her impeccable American accent. Males 18-35 will also relish the scene where Danes and Beckinsale "spoon" each other on a bed. The remaining demographics will have to look a bit harder for something to enjoy.

1:46 - for brief strong language, drug related material and some violent content