Product Details

• Actors: Gia Carides, Anthony LaPaglia, Rebecca Gibney, Robyn Nevin, Marshall Napier
• Directors: Ben Lewin
• Writers: Ben Lewin
• Producers: Bob Weis, Judi Levine, Lesley Parker
• Format: Closed-captioned, Color, DVD, Full Screen, Subtitled, Widescreen, NTSC
• Language: English
• Subtitles: English, French, Spanish
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Rated: R (Restricted)
• Studio: MGM (Video & DVD)
• DVD Release Date: January 25, 2005
• Run Time: 88 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B00066VU6G
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #90,498 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)
• For more information about "Paperback Romance" visit the Internet Movie Database (IMDb)

Editorial Reviews

Putting your best foot forward has never been so sexyor so deliciously funnyas in this "entertaining, oddball comedy" (TNT's "Rough Cuts") that proves that it's worth it to go to outrageous lengths for the one you love. While reading aloud some of her provocative prose, Sophie, a romance novelist (Gia Carides, My Big Fat Greek Wedding) meets an impressed eavesdropper (Anthony LaPaglia, "Without a Trace") who turns out to be the man of her dreams. But having been disabled since childhood,Sophie lacks the confidence to go after him, until she gets a lucky breaka broken limb that allows her to disguise her childhood infirmity by posing as the victim of a skiing mishap. But when she throws fate to the wind and starts a star-crossed affair, she learns that she isn't the only one with something to hide!

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Cute! Strange, but cute!, January 23, 2003

By 

skunktrain (So. California, USA) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Paperback Romance [VHS] (VHS Tape)

I didn't quite know what to make of this movie when I first saw it. Finally, after thinking about it for a while, I decided that I liked it. It was quite funny in parts.

A withdrawn, reclusive erotic romance writer meets suave and handsome jeweler Eddie ( played by Anthony LaPaglia). She at first rejects him, because she's shy about her handicap -- she's had to use leg braces, thanks to a childhood case of polio. Later, she meets up with him again, (or rather, chases after him) after she breaks her leg in a freak accident. With her leg in a cast instead of a brace, everyone (including Eddie) assumes that she had a skiing accident. And she lets them continue to assume that, keeping her handicap a secret.

Of course true love finds a way in the end, but there are many adventures along the way-- jewel thievery, an undisclosed girlfriend, a Russian policeman, and more! Plenty of twists and turns appear in the story.

This movie definitely goes for the surprises -- a "romantic" scene can suddenly turn into something else entirely! I confess there were a few times that I was thinking, "No way! This is some sort of bizarre dream sequence! This isn't what is supposed to happen!" But it *does* happen. And somehow, it works.

It's a pretty sweet film, in a weird, bizarre way. And I decided that I liked it.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Mind Candy Suspended in theTrojan Horse Position, August 24, 2003

By 

C Ruiz-Esparza "PharOueste" (San Francisco, left of Albuquerque) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

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This review is from: Paperback Romance [VHS] (VHS Tape)

It is not a great movie, but is very likable. This movie is the perfect answer to wanting some spicy mind candy. It is funny and just sentimental enough with a little edge. It has some really funny and whimsical erotic scenes in the mind's eye of the challenged young writer of purple prose. Gia Carides (Strictly Ballroom) needs better representation in the States because she has a great knack for comedy, and we should see her more often. Anthony LaPaglia (Lantana) is handsome, dashing and appropriately a jerk and even quite silly. The rest of the cast is subtle and plays this seemingly unlikely story with wonderful, fanciful credibility. This is a fun and very original movie!!!

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Real-life portrayal of the "challenged" female, November 17, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Paperback Romance [VHS] (VHS Tape)

I almost passed the movie up because of the title--being a sophisticated woman I pass up anything associated with romance novels; however when I read the synopsis I didn't want to miss it! It is all things, hilarious, philosophical, romantic, sardonic, and liberating. It is a must-see for all females with any type of handicapping condition as I have, in real life, lived so many of the scenes. For instance, when the heroine is perceived as bodily injured because of a skiing accident she is considered intelligent, and very much the avant garde female; however when the same female is perceived as bodily injured by birth defect she is considered pitiful, worthy of lecherous invitations by old men who think she is available by necessity. What a sweet movie and one I want all my friends to see so that they may, for the first time, truly know what it feels like to be "crippled" in our society!! But, even without the educational factor for understanding a "handicapping" physical deformity on the female of the species, it is a wonderful film in its own right by its characterization, by his humor, by its hope for the human race.