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Title: Return to Paradise (1998)
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| Cast overview, first billed only: | |||
| Vince Vaughn | ... | Sheriff | |
| Anne Heche | ... | Beth | |
| Joaquin Phoenix | ... | Lewis | |
| David Conrad | ... | Tony | |
| Vera Farmiga | ... | Kerrie | |
| Nick Sandow | ... | Ravitch | |
| Jada Pinkett Smith | ... | M.J. | |
 |
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) |
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... Written by R.P. Falvey
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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.