Return To Paradise on DVD (1998)

Average rating: 68%

from 498 members

2 Critics reviews
20 Members reviews

Starring:	Vince Vaughn \| Anne Heche \| Joaquin Phoenix \| David Conrad \| Jada Pinkett-Smith
Director:	Joseph Ruben
Studio:	UNIVERSAL PICTURES UK
Run time:	107 mins
Certificate:
User collections:	a lot of damn good films \| I love these films but hey everyone has different taste
Genres:	Drama
Languages:	English
Released:	03/07/2006

Brief synopsis of Return To Paradise

They either 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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Critics Reviews

Radio Times

Would you let a friend die in a Malaysian prison for an offence you committed? That's the dilemma facing Vince Vaughn and David Conrad when lawyer Anne Heche tells them Joaquin Phoenix will hang unless they go back to Asia and serve their part of his prison sentence. Basing this on the 1989 French success Force Majeure, director Joseph Ruben weaves a wrenching tragedy out of the nightmarish predicament, mining every ounce of indignation and empathy. Acted with anguished conviction, Ruben's crisis-of-conscience thriller doesn't take any easy options and the result casts a singularly provocative spell. With its superior production values and truthful dialogue, this thematically complex Midnight Express revisited is a great testament to the human spirit and its unerring strength in desperate times.

Halliwell's Film Guide

A drama of total predictability; it raises moral issues only to avoid resolving them.

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Members Reviews

Reviews Voted Most Helpful

Extremely memorable

A customer from England , 16/03/2006

I was stunned to read the other two reviews of this film. It is a moral dilemma that grabs you and leaves you wondering 'what would I do in that situation?'.

It has more twists than a twisty-turny thing. And I find it incredible that the previous reviewer said it gave 'easy answers'.

This film will shock you. It makes you question your preconceptions about drug laws in the third world, and will certainly leave many people shaken.

I have recommended this to all my friends as one of the best I have ever seen, and they have unanimously agreed. I find it disappointing that others seem to have marked it down.

Absolutely outstanding. As one review said elsewhere - 'The best film you have never heard of'.

5 out of 5 people found this review helpful

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* * * This review contains spoilers * * *

Return to Paradise

A customer from WALES , 04/08/2008

Directed by Joseph Luben ( Sleeping with the Enemy) a film riddled with cliches, but suprisingly enjoyable nonetheless. Lewis, (Joaquin Pheonix) Sheriff (Vince Vaughan) and Tony (David Conrad) are three American guys who meet and hang out one summer at the beach huts of Malaysia. There they enjoy lots of women, rum, and hash in no particular order. But the summer ends, and Tony and Sheriff go back to New York, but Lewis decides to go to Borneo to help save the orangutan. However before he gets the chance to leave, and unbeknown to the other two party animals he is arrested for possession of the large block of leftover hash and sentenced to death because he was considered to be trafficking.

Two years go by and Sheriff and Tony are living their lives peacefully in New York though Sheriff is unhappy with his lot he muddles through, whilst Tony is successful and settled with a fiance in tow. Enter Lewis' lawyer Beth (Anne Heche) who turns up and tells them the bomshell news: three years each in prison if they both go back to Malaysia or six years if one goes, Lewis' hangs if neither decide to return . Although neither wants Lewis to die, the huge moral dilemma surfaces ,do they really want to sacrifice three years of their lives in a Third-World prison.?

'Return to Paradise' watches Sheriff and Tony as they struggle to decide Lewis's fate, will either or neither return ? or will Lewis face the executioner? A watchable movie with some tender moments, and a twist in the tale at the end . Pheonix is only on for short bursts but dominates and everyone makes a good stab at making it believable.Worth a watch .

5 out of 5 people found this review helpful

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Would you sacrifice six years of your life for someone else?

A customer from Shropshire, England. , 19/01/2006

Interesting and thought provoking subject. Three buddies meet and party in Malaysia, two years later a lawyer turns up on two of their doorsteps claiming that unless they go to Malaysian jail for three years each, their third friend will be killed for drug offences. The acting is incredible especially Joaquin Phoenix whose small but key role climaxes in a tremendous performance. Vince Vaughn and Anne Heche are also notable and manage to create chemistry in an unlikely romance.Overall this film could do with being more brave, it asks hard questions but delivers easy answers.

3 out of 3 people found this review helpful

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