Return to Paradise
Starring Vince Vaughn, Anne Heche and Joaquin Phoenix Directed By Joseph Rubin Running Time: 1 hour 41 minutes
(Polygram Filmed Entertainment)
Return to Paradise is a grim thriller that tries hard to impress, but is somewhat flawed. Sheriff (Vaughn), Lewis (Phoenix) and Tony (David Conrad) are three friends who spend time in Malaysia drinking, having sex, and smoking lots of hash. Tony and Sheriff eventually leave, but Lewis, an Greenpeace activist, stays to help introduce urangutangs back to the their habitat. However, he is shortly busted by the police, and his stash o' hash is found. Back in Brooklyn, Beth (Heche), Lewis's lawyer, appears from nowhere, telling Sheriff and Tony that if they don't come back to Malaysia and accept some of the blame, Lewis will be hung. Sheriff and Tony then have to make the moral decision.
Return to Paradise falls into the dreaded trap: it's an 'okay' movie. That is, there is nothing particularly special about it, but nothing truly awful either. The performances are fine, and Anne Heche, after her 2.D characters featured in Six Days Seven Nights and Psycho, has a potentially better character to work with, and the chemistry with Vaughn works well. Although the film seems somewhat disinterested with Heche's character on occasion, she plays the role well enough. Vaughn is great as Sheriff, delivering a fine performance. His transition from a stubborn 'no, I'm not going' to seriously thinking about it is well played and delivered, but again the script just doesn't do enough justice, and Vaughn himself makes the character work. It's up to Phoenix, as the most underwritten character in the film, to give the best performance, and nearly all of his scenes have a harrowing reality about them, especially the unexpected, and scary, ending.
But although the actors are great, the characters themselves act, and talk, like soap opera stars. The script and story are sometimes surprisingly amateurish, the sort of thing you'd expect to be on television late night with the title 'Return To Paradise: The True Story of Lewis.' The ending, although harrowing, is somewhat unbelievable, and there is a tacky sex scene thrown in between Heche and Vaughn, which doesn't help the movie at all. And the final scene, a reunion between Heche and Vaughn, is overplayed and irritatingly sloppy, almost strangling the audience to emit some kind of emotion from them. It's a shame, because when the scenes work, they really work, and the gritty realism of some of the scenes give the idea that this film could of been much better than it actually is.
The direction is good, although it works far better during the second part of the film, in Malaysia. The prison scenes are unsettling, and work well. But there's some problems with the pacing, and the film seems really long winded at some points, almost as if it were padding. But generally, like everything else in the movie, the direction is just good, not brilliant nor pathetic.
Return to Paradise is a admirable attempt, but something is missing to make it an truly engaging epic. There is enough entertainment on offer, but occasionally this largely well made movie just does some things hopelessly wrong. The film raises some interesting questions, and pulls some surprises, but overall it seems like it's underachieving. It's worth watching for the strong performances of the cast, but Return to Paradise is a T.V drama that tries to be a lot more, but doesn't always succeed.
RATING=*** OUT OF *****
A David Wilcock Review ©1999
DAVID WILCOCK david.wilcock@btinternet.com Visit the Wilcock Movie Page! http://www.wilcock54.freeserve.co.uk
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