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Movies / On DVD / Return to Paradise
Return to Paradise

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Return to Paradise (1998)

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Reviews Counted:43

Fresh:30

Rotten:13

Average Rating:6.6/10

Runtime: 1 hr 52 mins

Genre: Dramas

Synopsis: Tony is a successful architect, ready to be married. Sherriff is a devil-may-care limo driver. Two years prior, they had been in Malaysia living the high life with a third buddy, Lewis. Lewis... Tony is a successful architect, ready to be married. Sherriff is a devil-may-care limo driver. Two years prior, they had been in Malaysia living the high life with a third buddy, Lewis. Lewis stayed on to continue their hedonistic lifestyle. His long-lost buddies don't know, however, that he is in prison, sentenced to die because of them. If a lawyer can persuade Tony and Sherriff to return to Malaysia and serve 3 years in the same prison, Lewis' life will be spared. Will they sacrifice that portion of their lives to save the life of a friend? [More]

Starring: Anne Heche, Vince Vaughn, Joaquin Phoenix, David Conrad

Starring: Anne Heche, Vince Vaughn, Joaquin Phoenix, David Conrad, Jada Pinkett Smith

Director: Joseph Ruben

Director: Joseph Ruben
Screenwriter: Wesley Strick, Bruce Robinson
Producer: Alain Bernheim, Steve Golin
Composer: Mark Mancina

[See More Credits]

Reviews for Return to Paradise

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1 - 20 (sorted by date; UK critics are listed first)
Text View | 1 2 3 >> >|
Arrange By:Fresh | Rotten | Comments | Name | Source | Date
 
 

It's a painful prospect, to be sure, and Sheriff, in particular, insists he's no hero, but the next hour or so of handwringing conjures little suspense.

Full Review Source: Time Out | comment Comment
06/24/06
Geoff Andrew
Geoff Andrew
Time Out
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

The plot carries surprises right up until the last, but with no cheap shocks or selling out, only painful inevitabilities.

Full Review Source: UK Critic | comment Comment
01/01/00
Ian Waldron-Mantgani
Ian Waldron-Mantgani
UK Critic

Despite solid performances from the leads, it comes shrouded in a heavy cloud of ethics-class complications that makes it feel like a "dilemma of the week" TV movie.

Full Review Source: TV Guide's Movie Guide | comment Comment
10/04/09
Maitland McDonagh
Maitland McDonagh
TV Guide's Movie Guide

Vince Vaughn finally gives a performance putting him in the serious actor category, Joaquin Phoenix is notable and Anne Heche is believable as the impassioned attorney fighting for the life of her client.

Full Review Source: Film Threat | comment Comment
12/06/05
Anthony Miele
Anthony Miele
Film Threat

Involving drama about our responsibilities to others.

Full Review Source: Classic Film and Television | comment Comment
01/24/05
Michael E. Grost
Michael E. Grost
Classic Film and Television

The acting is generally good -- Vaughn is very convincing as a man forced to make a difficult decision, while Joaquin Phoenix even more convincingly plays a man condemned to die.

Full Review Source: rec.arts.movies.reviews | comment Comment
07/28/04
Dragan Antulov
Dragan Antulov
rec.arts.movies.reviews

Return to Paradise is precisely the kind of film I tend to like; one which could go many ways, and one which, if done right, could have a true and profound moral. And it didn't dissapoint.

Full Review Source: Film Blather | comment Comment
05/22/03
Eugene Novikov
Eugene Novikov
Film Blather

Fine, low-key performances by Ann Heche as the attorney and Vince Vaughn and David Conrad as the two men she must persuade help sustain our interest in the characters. But after the wrong turn, the story feels as forced as it once was exciting.

Full Review Source: Palo Alto Weekly | comment Comment
05/20/03
Leonard Schwarz
Leonard Schwarz
Palo Alto Weekly

No review available.

comment Comment
04/10/03
Jeffrey Westhoff
Jeffrey Westhoff
Northwest Herald (Crystal Lake, IL)

As disturbing as it is excellent.

Full Review Source: Film Quips Online | comment Comment
02/08/03
John R. McEwen
John R. McEwen
Film Quips Online

Truly Unforgettable. A tour-de-force for Phoenix.

comment Comment
09/18/02
Clint Morris
Clint Morris
Moviehole

The whole thing is quite thought provoking, and it's well written even though there are some flaws in the script.

Full Review Source: Montreal Film Journal | comment Comment
09/10/02
Kevin N. Laforest
Kevin N. Laforest
Montreal Film Journal

No review available.

comment Comment
07/12/02
Globe and Mail

Vaughn labors mightily under the obviousness of the script, while managing to reveal a fragile but profound fear of being an aging frat boy who longs to realize a finer, better self, only to be petrified that quality isn't within him.

Full Review Source: Boxoffice Magazine | comment Comment
06/05/02
Luisa F. Ribeiro
Luisa F. Ribeiro
Boxoffice Magazine

What one ambitious person does in New York City affects the deliberations of a judge in Malaysia.

Full Review Source: Spirituality and Practice | comment Comment
03/02/02
Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat
Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat
Spirituality and Practice

What if director Joseph Ruben didn't resort to B-movie suspense tricks? What if the fine cast wasn't saddled with a shamelessly contrived script by Wesley Strick and Bruce Robinson?

Full Review Source: Rolling Stone | comment Comment
05/11/01
Peter Travers
Peter Travers
Rolling Stone

If it's to be experienced at all, Return to Paradise is best seen as a lively piece of pulp, not a profound exploration of the vagaries of the human soul.

Full Review Source: Los Angeles Times | comment Comment
02/14/01
Kenneth Turan
Kenneth Turan
Los Angeles Times
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

A quiet, thoughtful movie about hard moral choices, truth, love, accountability, crime, punishment and friendship.

Full Review Source: Laramie Movie Scope | comment Comment
01/01/01
Robert Roten
Robert Roten
Laramie Movie Scope

No review available.

comment Comment
01/01/00
USA Today

Phoenix, who was memorable in To Die For, is unearthly here as a man reduced to a wraith by miserable prison conditions and hopelessness. As an actor, he seems to have abandoned his body entirely in order to communicate only through his spirit.

Full Review Source: San Francisco Examiner | comment Comment
01/01/00
Barbara Shulgasser
Barbara Shulgasser
San Francisco Examiner
 
 
1 - 20 (sorted by date; UK critics are listed first)
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