Customer Reviews

Paradise

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Frank Pierson continues to create films that are controversial and thought-provoking ('Soldier's Girl', 'Dirty Pictures', 'Truman', 'Conspiracy', 'Citizen Cohn', etc). In PARADISE he examines the workings of a 'showbiz evangelist' family and in doing so opens doors and windows to inspect not only the backstage shennaigans that are gaining more media coverage of late, but also the the very important family values and human frailties that make people support this brand of 'religion'.

With a blistering screenplay by Norman Steinberg and Richard Christian Matheson. PARADISE relates the story of one Bobby Paradise (David Strathairn), a past astronaut who apparently believes he spoke with God upon re-entry into earth's atmosphere while crashing into the Indian Ocean, and has been driven to tell his story and spread the gospel with his wife Elizabeth (Barbara Hershey), his lawyer daughter (Vivienne Benesch) who has a penchant for shady behavior and who is having an affair with a boxer (Kirk Acevedo), his business manager son Matthew (James LeGros) and wife, and his alcoholic mother Isabella (Elaine Strich).

Bobby is haunted by his own demons and feels he is at the breaking point, but his wife and family encourage him to continue is financially successful business (palatial mansion, jets, money to burn and to keep everyone out of trouble, etc). But the media begins to pry and slowly we watch the family power tend to disintegrate as we discover Bobby has a son newly released from a prison term (apparently for justifiable homicide), the boxer's wife and child are 'bought out' so that the daughter can marry, etc.

The film works well primarily because of the quality of performances by Strathairn, Hershey, Srtitch, and all of the cast. Just when the story appears to be going over the top, the understated characters of Bobby and Elizabeth keep it grounded in reality and the possibility that this sort of family CAN exist. Too many questions are left unanswered, as though this movie for Showtime was being considered as a series for TV, but for a dissection of TV Evangelism it is a tasty investigation. Grady Harp, April 05

What a waste of good actors. One has to wonder if most of the film was left on the cutting room floor. The plot, such as it is, is disjointed and fails to make any sense of the points brought up early on. When the movie ended, my wife and I both said, "That's it? Where is the rest of the movie?" Not worth the time or money.

Terrific cast with David Strathairn, Elaine Stritch et al and really interesting premise. It would have made a great series.

If you're looking for something that's "religious," this is not the film to watch. But, if you're looking for something about grimy and complicated life, with supernatural power possibly somewhere in the mix, this may be an interesting movie to see- I found it to be that way.

If you like things nice-and-clean, there are places in this film that may offend you. There are uses of F..., cu.., whore, and similar words. There's also some sexuality (one episode of intercourse- but with clothes on, and another time viewed in profile / in a darkened room). There is also a brief view of a sexual toy, and a number of instances with dresses that barely contain the anatomy of the people in them.

BUT, if you can deal with all of that, then read on...

The film has some very realistic performances from actors/actresses. It also had a number of unexpected (to me) turns in its plot. So, the story in itself was interesting.

In addition, if your idea of "believing" is more complicated than just religion-as-an outward-form, you may find the film/storyline particularly interesting. There are a couple of places where what happens leaves you thinking that maybe supernatural forces WERE at work. Or, were the things that happened just "coincidence"?

For me, this film was a welcome departure from stereotypical films that include "faith." Most often, I've felt that films either portray faith as 100% all nice-and-pure, or as totally farcical. This one did neither. Instead, it took me on an emotional ride DURING it, and AFTERWARD left me thinking...