Customer Reviews

Return to Paradise [VHS]

5 star:		(48)
4 star:		(20)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

This is a wonderfully creative movie, with top-notch directing and award caliber performances by a talented cast. The premise is a fairly simple one. Three young men, Sheriff (Vincent Vaughn), Tony (David Conrad), and Louis (Joaquin Phoenix), who previously didn't know one another, team up in Malaysia and party hearty. They have fun drinking, smoking hashish, and picking up girls. Sheriff and Tony head back to the states, leaving Louis behind, as he has a wildlife conservation idea involving orangutans that he wishes to pursue while in Malaysia. Before they go, Sheriff makes it a point to leave his dope stash in the house in which Louis is remaining. Later, the police come to search the premises on a matter unrelated to the dope stash. When they find it, however, they arrest Louis, who literally has been left holding the bag.

Two years later, Anne Heche enters the picture as a lawyer, ostensibly working on behalf of her client, Louis. She seeks out Sheriff and Tony with a proposition. It seems that while Sheriff and Tony have been getting on with their lives, Louis has been rotting in a Malaysian prison for the past two years and living in sheer terror. You see, Louis is scheduled to be executed in eight days as a drug dealer, as the amount of dope that had been left behind and discovered by the police was just over a threshold amount that would classify it as being for distribution, rather than for personal use. The only hope Louis has of staying alive is if Sheriff and Tony go back to Malaysia to take responsibility for their part in this and serve three years each. If only one returns, then the sole returnee faces six years. Will it be all for one and one for all? Will Louis live to personally thank his friends? Watch the movie and find out.

Vince Vaughn as Sheriff gives a compelling performance. Playing the quintessential Everyman, he struggles with his moral obligation. It is strictly a moral one, as legally he can just sit by and do nothing. Tony, too, undergoes some soul searching. They finally both come to the same conclusion, or do they? The dilemma that they face is an excruciatingly personal one. The movie builds up to a level of suspense that is totally unexpected. There are enough twists and turns to keep you guessing. Meanwhile, Joaquin Phoenix, one of the finest young actors of his generation, gives a performance that will haunt the viewer for days. Anne Heche also give a noteworthy performance, intense and relentless in her quest to save what life Louis has left. Jada Pinkett also gives a strong performance as a news reporter who is interested in the story. Her interjection into the movie brings into the forefront the issue of the responsibility of the press. When you see this movie, you will understand what this means.

This film is excellent on all fronts. The only weakness was an unnecessary subplot, which involved a blossoming romance between Sheriff and the character played by Anne Heche. Were it not for this digression, I would have given the movie five stars. It is an otherwise profoundly moving film that deserves to be seen.

In the American adaptation of "Force majeure," we get a great setup. "Return to Paradise" poses the moral dilemma of whether someone would be willing to give up several years of freedom to save another's life. It's a fantastic, sticky ethical quandary and one that I think is presented quite well in this film. Vince Vaughn and David Conrad play two guys who are asked this question--as a buddy they left in Malaysia is about to be put to death (on a drug charge for which they all bore responsibility).

As we see these two wrestle with the implications, the doubts and the ambiguities--this film is at its strongest. How far will you go to be a "good" person, and is it worth it? Very weighty issues.

The first half of this film is solid, solid material. The lawyer who approaches them, played by Anne Heche, also gets involved with Vaughn personally. I could have done without this romance--but as characters struggling and conflicted and despairing, I suppose there was some basis for them to be drawn together. Another outside force, however, is a newspaper reporter played by hard-as-nails Jada Pinkett Smith. For those of you who have seen the patented Pinkett Smith hard-as-nails performance--it's really not much to see. And her character is pretty pointless, as well--a plot convenience to be revealed at a later time. But even though it was far from perfect, this half was thoroughly compelling.

Sadly, the film ventures to Malaysia for the remainder of the movie. What becomes painfully obvious now is that our romance has moved to the forefront of the picture. Joaquin Pheonix, as the prisoner, has yet to be fleshed out as a character. We don't see any real relationship between he and Vaughn or he and Heche. This is a fatal flaw! As we move into melodrama, I was surprisingly unmoved. Intellectually, I knew I should care but the film never bothered to emotionally invest me. So while I was left cold having hoped for so much more--then the big surprise courtroom revelation (see plot convenience mentioned in above paragraph).

Ultimately, the romance was again played up for the finale. With Phoenix being a character construct or plot device--instead of someone we knew and cared about--the film kills itself. Far from being an awful movie--what could have been powerful and emotionally devastating is really just mundane. KGHarris, 10/06.

When I was at university I was asked to write an essay on the ethical issues in this film. Wow, the whole idea really blows me away. What would you do it their position? It really is a tough one.
It's one of those films where you can really put yourself in their shoes, not that anyone would want to. The story itself is touching and I think it's well made. I can't stop thinking about it.
Oh.. and Vince Vaughn is so hot!
ENJOY

(NO SPOILERS...)

Return to Paradise is a beautifully written, crafted and acted film, one of the few DVDs in my collection that I just keep coming back to.

The prologue in Malaysia begins during the credits and is worth the watch in itself. The driving music, hand-held camera effects, and MTV-style editing evoke the carelessness of youth, of drugs, sex, booze ... a young man's idea of "Paradise". This grabs our interest, and establishes the dynamic between these three guys, who are off for a post-college fling before assuming their "real" lives.

The bulk of the film is devoted to the consequences of their idyll. The characters are: Tony, an opaque, friendly, Everyman in his pursuit of an honorable, yet conventional life. Louis (Joachim Phoenix) a gentle soul - whose plan is to stay in Southeast Asia and pursue Animal Rights ... and "Sheriff", played by Vince Vaughn - a tough, straight talking hustler from Brooklyn.

It is Sheriff's journey that we stay with as the action moves over to America, then back to 'Paradise'. And Vaughn brings a paradoxical depth and subtlety to this character. Ann Heche matches him by creating an intense volubly erotic counterpart. We feel for them as each delicately, falteringly, uses the other as a catalyst to reach for the nobility in their souls.

Things do not turn out as we (or they) expect. Character relationships reshuffle a bit near the end, but rather than being devices to surprise or tweak our emotions, these twists and turns of the plot help ensure that Sheriff's decisions feel like his own.

The best thing about Return to Paradise is that there are no bad guys. A life 'hangs in the balance', but the competing forces are (as in the real world) created by a myriad of individuals all acting out their own interests with no real malice, yet perhaps without the purposeful empathy represented by the Louis character.

The interplay between Tony, Louis, Sheriff, Beth, the Malaysian officials and MJ Major (an aggressive reporter played by Jada Pinkett-Smith in an acerbic, pivotal, cameo) keep us riveted all the way through to the final, cathartic, conclusion.

Lush settings and cinematography, complex emotional sub-plots. Don't miss it.

nailbiting drama about three men who go to Malaysia and then 2 go back, a year later Phenoix is sent into a prison and Vaughn and his buddie along with Heche go back...though there's a catach...in saving Pehonix's life from prison..one of Pheonix's friends must replace him. hard decisions meets good acting..Vaughn and Phenix are superb..Heche is right up there as well, but its Vaughn and Pehonix at the end where Vaughn watches his friend get hanged....its too much of a good movie for me..brilliant and nicely directed..the movier hits

I was right about my intuitions about this film. I thought it would be good, and it was great. It is one of those films that is very convincing in its ability to make you feel everything the characters are going through as they make burden-laden ethical decisions in their lives.
Vince Vaughn's character Sheriff is easy to hate at first as the cocky, selfish guy, but his transformation is both very believable and very moving. If you need to see a movie about courage and doing the right thing in spite of the terrible consequences, this is the one.
Unlike a majority of the other reviewers, I thought the love story between Heche and Vaughn was an asset to the film. What they have with each other at the end leaves you feeling that although the ending turns out tragic, you still feel good about how things stand.

This film was overlooked when it was released in 1998, and then it was virtually forgotten. That was unfortunate because "Return to Paradise" is a powerful (and powerfully acted) film. On the other hand, its neglect at the box office really wasn't much of a surprise; this is a serious film that doesn't allow viewers to walk away lightly, and it is therefore not the typical Hollywood escapist fare that moviegoers throng to week after week.

But if film, like all art, is about life then serious films about complicated subjects are needed and welcome from time to time, particularly if such films treat their subject matter with respect and thoughtfulness. Three friends vacation in Malaysia (with drugs, booze, and women), two return, and one stays behind, only to find himself imprisoned and sentenced to death for possessing drugs the three of them used. His death sentence will be overturned if the other two return and serve time in prison. A lawyer (played effectively by Anne Heche) contacts the two men and tries to convince them to return.

A serious subject, indeed, but it's the way in which the film is acted, directed, and handled that make it so touching and provocative. The film's greatest achievement is the way in which it makes the moral dilemma faced by the characters so palpably real and so powerfully complicated. It doesn't tread lightly or simplify, nor does it overburden the film with tedious, needless moralizing or cliched rhetoric. It's moral tone is spot on; it is heavy, to be sure, but you appreciate it because you, as a viewer, feel the weight as much as the characters do.

"Return to Paradise" is also stellar because it centers on cultural differences and moral responsibility without being morally relativistic (relativistic, by the way, is how most Hollywood movies would handle such a subject). The film exposes the complexities of circumstance without making the story confusing, just as it approaches the entire story in the most balanced and judicious way. This is not a far-fetched situation (Kenneth Turan of the LA Times thought otherwise, but I disagree); in fact, it's the type of moral dilemma many have faced in their lives (not the exact situation, but the consequences of mistakes, the dilemma of deciding what to do in the midst of a painfully serious situation). This is a film based not so much on plot as it is on ethical debate.

The acting is superb. Joaquin Phoenix's jailed, wounded Lewis is an outstanding portrayal of a soul that has withered under the weight of its situation. Anne Heche's Beth Easton is both fortitudinous and fragile. But it's Vince Vaughn's "Sheriff" that steals the show, as we witness a man who gradually evolves from careless to morally responsible -- and it's entirely believable.

Ultimately, as we find out towards the end of the film, "Return to Paradise" is deeply humane (even in its suggestive cynicism). Sheriff does something for Lewis that virtually makes up for his past mistakes, that gives meaning to Lewis's deeply pointless and helpless misery, and that proves just how morally courageous Sheriff has become (I can't describe it without explaining the film's ending, but it inolves Sheriff yelling to Lewis through a cell window).

Overall, a well-made film. Just be sure you have much lighter, happier fare in your DVD collection for a healthy balance.

A film for grown-ups (which is a rare thing). Beautifully made, beautifully acted, directed with subtlety and intelligence. Does the fact that you've forgotten someone and moved on with your life mean that you love them any less, or that your responsibility or accountability to them is any less, years later? Are the responsibilities of friendship contingent upon how long you've known that friend, or upon how long it's been since you've seen that friend? The acting and direction are so authentic that I felt like I was watching a documentary rather than a work of fiction. A film about loyalty, decency, friendship, and about "how you act when no one's looking." It's about an unremarkable "regular Joe" who is asked/forced to address the questions: What kind of a person am I, really? Am I a person who can be counted on by his friends? to what extent? Is there anything more important than myself and my life? To what extent is a totally undistinguished person capable of acts of transcendent nobility? What is the meaning of friendship? What rights does friendship confer upon someone to make really extraordinary requests or demands of his friends? Does the essential decency or goodness of one person have an affect on those around him? Do the responsibilities of love (i.e. loyalty) diminish after years of not seeing each other? Is love eternal and internal, or specific to a time and place? Is decency/goodness infectious/contagious? One of the best movies I've ever seen. It restores your faith in cinema as a forum for serious ideas and questions. This really is a film of rare quality.

This movie still haunts me a month later, or rather, Joaquin Phoenix's performance does, especially Lewis's eerie monologue towards the end of the show. I thought he was a good actor before "Return...", but after watching i can safely say his acting is amazingly brilliant. The movie is deep, it makes you re-think your whole take on morality. I think it deserved more recognition it'd received (if any at all), and Joaquin should have gotten at least an oscar nomination for best supporting actor. The movie would be perfect, but the ridiculous love interest between Vince Vaughn's character (who was also totally believable) and Anne Heche's character soured the plot. even my mom agreed it was unbelievable. I almost cried towards the end but didn't, because i didn't want my mom to see me crying, but anyway, i won't watch this again because i feel so sorry for Lewis. Anyhow, this movie is definitely worth a watch.

I actually saw this in the theatre when it was released. This is an amazing movie. Don't pay attention to the review "Go back to Film School". Some people are a little over analytical and should just watch the news for their entertainment. Remember, a movie is just that, a movie, a story. Return to Paradise is a thought provoking and highly emotional STORY, a combination of which is exactly what I seek from films. If I leave the theatre and all I can muster is "Wow", then I know I just got my money's worth. Not only could I not speak for a while, I was in a complete daze. My boyfriend and I talked about the movie for hours afterwards, once I was able to Return to Reality. You become completely involved with these characters. That is, if your not too busy analyzing every second of each scene waiting for imperfections to arise. I have to say the most phenomonal acting was done by Joaquin Phoenix. I just cannot believe the Academy and the Hollywood Foreign Press overlooked this film altogether. Politics I am sure. We wouldn't want anyone/Malaysia to get mad at us. Better to just ignore that film. Bottom line, I thought this movie was fabulous. Some may disagree, but that's totally fine. Most of you however, I think will be moved, shocked, depressed, confused and amazed after watching this movie. Then ask yourself what would you do? REALLY. If you answer too quickly then your not being truthful. It takes some thought.