Paradise (1991)

No Description Available.
Genre: Feature Film-Drama
Rating: PG13
Release Date: 3-AUG-2004
Media Type: DVD Product Description

Simplicity shines Brighter than Diamonds

When I first watched this movie, I was a little kid. It took me time to understand the movie but it made a big impression in my heart. I watched it again when I grew 18+ and it actually added another layer of respect for the writer of this film. "Sometimes wounds don't heal and one only need a miracle to heal them. Through this movie it is so clearly proven that one mustn't look for miracles or for answers, one must just look wide open that little wonders around can coach one, through their mere innocence. I have always admired Don Johnson's work and Melanie Griffith's work in all of their movies and to see them perform with such simplicity but so brilliantly; it touched my heart. Presently I live in India it costs me a lot to purchase through net but I purchased this movie only because I adored, admired, loved and immensely respected every character of this Movie and the effort of the writer... markrenfro@yahoo.ca July 25, 2008

In Paradise, indeed...

A simple, old-time movie about the simple life in a small town does not change the fact that grief and estrangement are universal and cannot be ignored as if they will tippy-toe away. Secrets gnaw from the inside out.
Ben and Lily (Don Johnson and Melanie Griffith) lost a young son two years earlier, so when Willard (Elijah Wood) arrives, he steps right into this scenario of estrangement and unresolved grief.

Ten-year-old Willard has come to visit because his pregnant mother wrestles with her own potential loss--Willard's father has run off with another woman--and she needs time to figure out what to do. Willard's father becomes a pivotal point later in the story. Willard is sent to Lily because she was his mother's best friend in their girlhood days.

A bright boy, Willard senses that things are not well in this house. He makes friends with Billie, the wild girl next-door, nine-years-old and daughter of the town floozie, making this viewer ask, as always, why children must also suffer the problems of their parents.

Yes, Paradise, is an apt name for a perfect setting--fishing, swimming, warm summer days, tree rafts, boating. But, of course, it is not paradise. What then is this story about, if not an idyllic setting? It is about the daily-ness of life and how each little act leads to the next for good or bad, in the case of unresolved grief, out of avoidance, out of ignorance, out of now a set routine. That's where Willard's role is apparent. His presence presents a new paradigm, breaking the unhappy flow of energy. Not that he does this intentionally--he doesn't. He simply is a new factor to alter their energy, refocusing it back into this couple, who are so hopelessly lost in their grief.

"Paradise" is a quiet drama, a family drama, and one that ends well. January 5, 2008

Its a great movie

This is a "Collector" movie to buy and watch again and again when the mood strikes you. It is about "Life" which is never pretty all the time. It is about coming of age, it is about love (good and bad love). It is a movie that causes you to think about your own life and your own relationships. Its a great movie. November 6, 2007

Amazing

I watched this movie for the first time when i was 10 and i loved it. Contrary to what another reviewer said i disagree. This film may have had a few awkward moments in it but when i was 10 i was witness to swear words and if i didn't knock on my parents door nudity. i do think that this movied should be rated pg13 but many things now days aren't.
The plot was great. Johnson was a cold heartless man who hid his pain in anger and Griffith was a kind nurturing woman who hid it in the attic. I felt very much for the couple in the movie at age 10 and even more at 24.
The fact that Wood and Burch bonded and shared alot was not that much different from Culkin and Chlumsky's relataionship in My Girl. They were young curious opposite sex friends who were probably closer than most of the adults around them at the time.
I loved this movie and still do til this day. At age 10 i wanted to watch it all the time and i must've seen it at least 20 times over the years. If you haven't seen it i would recomend it. If you liked My Girl this movie is a movie for you. It's funny, heartfelt, and beautiful all in one. October 1, 2007

nostalgic, NBC is right, truly a masterpiece of its kind.

This is such a magical movie. Like the other reviewers before me, it's a collectors keepsake if you like that nostalgic, non-violent, feel good kind of real family, real deal, heart wrenching drama type of genres. For some reason reminds me alot of 'Hearts In Atlantis' or 'The War', in that sense of non-traditional, non epic film making, that comes along every once in awhile to titilate our senses. Mary Agnes Donoghue (who also wrote the screenplay, if I am not mistaken, to 2002's White Oleander) directs.

Lily and Ben Reed, names I have remembered since I saw this with my brother when I was 11, have stayed with me for years. At the time, Don and Melanie were married, and they put so much emotion into their roles as parents who lost a young child, and having Willard (what an awful name) played by Elijah Wood stay with them for the summer, and watching Melanie and Don interact with him, as if he were their own son, watching him grow and learn, is truly gut wrenching and I must say kudos galore to M.Agnes D., for letting them both go with their emotions in those scenes. Watching Melanie put Willard to sleep in one scene, and her stroking his hair and watching him, I mean I was shell shocked, that pain a mother must go through to lose a son, and then having to take care of another's son and see what your boy might have looked like, what they might have smelt like, and what their hair might have been like...well that truly was very tear-jerking stuff. Truly spectacular acting, which I almost want to cringe with respect to saying that to Donnie Boy lol.

Heart felt performances, really beautiful morning cinematography, whisping Southern stereotypes done extremely well, and beautiful imagery in many aspects from the tower climbing to the wilderness; and really worth a look, and one of, if not the first roles for Elijah, right after 'Avalon' perhaps?

No need to rent this one, def. worth the purchase price. One of my favorite movies as a young boy, strange huh? lol Paradise and Goonies, oh the perpetual God's of film are like Boris Yeltzin trying to get into the old party at Spago with his hands in the air, shaking his head...'what's wrong with this movie lover...'

Thanks July 21, 2007

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