Return to Paradise (1998)

Two friends must choose whether to help a third friend who was arrested in Malaysia for drug possession.

Director:

Joseph Ruben

Writers:

Pierre Jolivet (motion picture Force Majeure), Olivier Schatzky (motion picture Force Majeure),

Stars:

Vince Vaughn, Anne Heche, Joaquin Phoenix

2 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Vince Vaughn	...	John 'Sheriff' Volgecherev
Anne Heche	...	Beth McBride
Joaquin Phoenix	...	Lewis McBride
David Conrad	...	Tony Croft
Vera Farmiga	...	Kerrie
Nick Sandow	...	Ravitch
Jada Pinkett Smith	...	M.J. Major
Ming Lee	...	Mr. Chandran
Joel de la Fuente	...	Mr. Doramin
Richard Chang	...	Prosecutor
James McCauley	...	Famous Divorce Lawyer (as James Michael McCauley)
Brette Taylor	...	Young Woman in Limo (as Brettanya Friese)
Deanna Yusoff	...	Woman in Bar
David Zayas	...	Construction Foreman
Amy Wong	...	Ticket Agent (as Amy Wong)

Storyline

Three friends share an exciting vacation in Malaysia, full of fun, drinks, women and hash. When the vacation is over, each have dreams of continuing their lives, and they all go their separate ways. One of them (Phoenix) remains on the tropical paradise to fulfill a dream of working with apes for research. Two years later, a lawyer (Heche) comes to New York and hunts down the other two friends to give some sad news. A few days after they left the island, police raided their camp and found amazingly large quantities of hash left about. Phoenix was still residing there, so he had to take the blame. He is set to be put to death in 8 days, and the only way the charges can be decreased is if the two friends come back to paradise and take their share of the responsibilty. If they do, they both will spend three years in prison. If only one does, he will spend six years behind bars...

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Plot Keywords:

friend | malaysia | vacation | prison | lawyer | 

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Taglines:

Give up three years of their lives or give up the life of their friend. They have eight days to decide.

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Genres:

Drama | Romance | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for language, drug content, some sexuality and a scene of violence

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

14 August 1998 (USA)

Also Known As:

A Long Way to Paradise

Filming Locations:

Eastern State Penitentiary - 2124 Fairmont Avenue, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA

Box Office

Opening Weekend:

£126,537 (UK) (16 April 1999)

Gross:

£126,537 (UK) (16 April 1999)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Polygram Filmed Entertainment, Propaganda Films, Tetragram

Technical Specs

Runtime:

111 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Cuba Gooding Jr. turned down the role of Tony the architect.

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Goofs

Long opening series of street scenes, local "color", was obviously filmed in Buddhist Thailand, complete with saffron-robed monks and red-green-gold Thai temples - Malaysia (population has 30 % non-Muslim minorities) doesn't have go-go bars or obvious brothels unlike Thailand).

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Quotes

Lewis McBride: [crying] I asked myself... would I come back for you? And the only answer is a Godless, empty, evil... no. I'm sorry I wouldn't have come back. I'm sorry.

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Crazy Credits

In memory of DANNY ARNOLD

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Connections

Referenced in Saturday Night Live: Reese Witherspoon/Alicia Keys (2001)

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Soundtracks

"Beautiful Lady"

User Reviews

What Brokedown Palace should have been

Return to Paradise is what Brokedown Palace should have been. Joaquin Phoenix, David Conrad and Vince Vaughn are 3 friends on a 5 week holiday in Penang. Joaquin stays behind and the others come home. Forward 2 years later a young lawyer tracks down the other 2 and they find out that Joaquin's character has been in prison for the past 2 years and they have 8 years to decide whether to take their share of the blame.

Joaquin Phoenix is the heart and soul of this movie. His performance is so poignant and real, he has truly come a long way since the 80s.

Vince Vaughn and Anne Heche are brilliant in their roles especially Anne Heche, she really took her character to another level and it was sometimes heartbreaking as her performance was so real.

This is one movie to check out if you haven't seen it. I did not know about this movie until 2 years ago when I saw it on cable and after just watching Brokedown Palace I was skeptical as it was really bad and I was so surprised when I watched Return to Paradise as it wasn't toned down or glossed over and all the principle actors were fantastic.

If you haven't seen it you certainly don't know what you're missing.