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

Sheriff: You'd take 3 years from me but you wouldn't take my word?

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Crazy Credits

In memory of DANNY ARNOLD

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Connections

References Midnight Express (1978)

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Soundtracks

"Sonata In F Minor"
Written by Domenico Scarletti

User Reviews

A superbly-splendid, well-crafted and unimaginably touching story of choice, life and sacrifice.A rare gem.

This review ,as the summary suggests,might seem like just another review from a Hollywood buff who just fell in love with a movie,every minute of which he is cherishing.. but I hope this review convinces you to see this movie as soon as your done reading it because,trust me,you will rate it as one of your finest.

Joseph Ruben has delivered an Oscar-worthy film which is brilliantly made making you empathize with the characters portrayed in the film.

The story revolves around 3 men lewis(jaoquim phoenix),tony(David conrad) and sheriff(vince vaughn) holidaying in Panang,Malaysia where it's all fun with drinks,drugs and women after which lewis stays back to fight for animal rights when tony and sheriff call it a day and head back to their lives in new york.Two years later beth eastern(anne heche) shows up at their doors telling them that lewis has been imprisoned for possession of hash and is awaiting death by the noose but can be saved from being hanged if both of them share the responsibility of the crime with him and spend 3 yrs each together or 6 years if only one of them chooses to go back..

The rest of the story revolves around how beth tries to convince the two to "return to paradise" to serve their time fighting their own personal barriers,tony:convincing his lovely fiancé played by vira farmiga to let him go and sheriff:the reluctance to loose 3 years of his life in a third-world prison,while trying to fend off a story-hungry reporter played by jada pinkett.

The movie is not as simple as the plot suggests and has a lot of twists making it a gripping story.All the main cast members portrayed their roles with elegance,vaughn and heche in particular,and brought a certain empathy to the screen which is the key ingredient in such a film.

This movie is certainly one of the best films I have seen and definitely one of the greatest.

I would,without doubt,go with a 10/10.Bravo!