Return to Paradise (1998)

In Malaysia, three young Americans with little else in common are united in a shared enthusiasm for beer, women, and righteous hashish. Eventually, "Sheriff" (Vince Vaughn) and Tony (David Conrad) head back to New York. Lewis (Joaquin Phoenix), a spacey but good-hearted sort, stays on with the notion of helping save the orangutans. Two years later, a brassy lawyer (Anne Heche) shows up in Manhattan with the news that her client, Lewis, has spent the interim in Penang prison. Arrested for a prankish misdemeanor they all shared in, he's taking the rap for something worse: the dope stash they left him holding was a fatal few grams over the limit. Unless his fellow Americans return voluntarily to (literally) share the weight, in eight days Lewis will be hanged as a drug trafficker.

Eight days is about as long as Return to Paradise stayed on theater screens--the victim, perhaps, of Anne Heche-Ellen DeGeneres burnout in the press, or just too damn many movies out there to keep track of. Whatever the reason, it's a pity, because this is one of the most compelling movie-movies in recent memory. The screenplay turns the ethical-psychological thumbscrews with insidious effectiveness, despite the probability that the two writers brought separate agendas to the project--Wesley (Cape Fear) Strick working the complicity of the two home boys (each represents the halving of the other's prison sentence if they both agree to go back), and Bruce (The Killing Fields) Robinson revving his engines for another face-off of implacable East and irresponsible West. And director Joseph Ruben, specialist in serving up B-movie excitement with class-A skill (Dreamscape, The Stepfather), does his sleekest work yet.

But the real news is a trio of career-best performances: Phoenix, harrowing as a child-man whose sanity has been all but eaten away by terror; Vaughn limning a fascinating portrait of a man at war with himself, self-interest and furtive decency seesawing in his conscience; and Heche, part cagey poker player, part angel of mercy, mixing strength, delicacy, and desperation with devastating precision. Oscar blinked, three times. --Richard T. Jameson Amazon.com

Great Film!!

I have watched this movie over and over, i never get sick of it. It is a very serious film that opens your eyes to the affect media has on certain situations. All roles are played perfectly. I definately advise anyone and everyone to buy this film, it is fantastic, even the 100th time you watch it. July 7, 2008

Great movie.......

"Return to Paradise" is a great movie!

It never really got alot of attention. Check out the cast, if the movie was released today, it was be huge-
Vince Vaughn, Anne Heche, Joaquin Phoenix, David Conrad, Vera Farmiga

Great storyline, great characters and a tragic ending!

If this one got by you, track it down, it's worth it!
June 22, 2008

Return to Paradise

Being a now middle aged child of the sixties with friends that these three mimicked I found the movie compelling and actually overwhelming with the intense need to know at the end of the film if the promise to Sheriff ( Vince Vaughn) in fact came true or if he suffered the same fate as his friend for coming forward to " the powers that be" and owning up to his involvement so that he could be a "good and righteous person". Once again a story showing how the "legal powers that be" do not take into consideration the humanity especially when it comes to these drug crimes. I wanted to know if this is a take off of a true story and wanted to have the happy ending when all was resolved. I probably will not sleep tonite. Vince Vaughn's character was intense. February 14, 2008

Unbelievable Story

I would not reccommend this movie because I found the story unbelievable. There were no real substantial characters in it. The so-called characters were manipulated here and there to fulfill the demands of a preconceived plot. Vaughn acted not out of his beliefs and necessity but by what seemed to feel good at the moment, which was an obvious way for the writer to stretch out the movie.

The acting was only fair, but then what can you expect when the characters aren't given any solidness--depth, attitudes, understandings. Vaughn's "character", throughout the second act, keeps flip-flopping about returning to Malaysia until he has a bout of sex--Heche's manipulation, Vaughn's pleasure--and agrees to go. His so-called transformation near the end--becomming so compassionate and affectionate toward his friend in prison (Phoenix)--of the film was equally unbelievable. Real, believable change is often preceded by some ordeal or trauma that enables one to understand first hand the suffering of another. Only at the very end does this happen, but it should have happened much earlier for his change to be believed, from which a desire to save his friend should have developed, and not by some gratuitous sex affair.

April 18, 2007

Very good movie, tough getting through the prison scenes!

I stumbled onto this movie today, and decided what the heck, it was nothing else on anyway. Very emotionally charged film, and great acting, especially by Joaquin Phoenix. I have seen him in other movies, but this was a very good performance by him. It was really tough to watch the prison and courtroom scenes, especially that last prison scene with Vince Vaughn. It was hard not to cry. I walked away from the TV twice because the scene was so intense. What I really liked about the movie is how it slowly reeled you in at just the right pace. There were never dull moments, and made you that more curious to see how it would end. It also left you thinking about your own morality and friendships. I plan to buy this movie and add it to my collection, again Great Movie!

November 27, 2006

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