''Paradise'' is a 1991

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super-g ...

written and directed by

Mary Agnes Donoghue Mary Agnes Donoghue (26 March 1943 in Queens) is an American screenwriter and director. Following early jobs as a secretary and short story writer, Donoghue's first writing credit was the 1984 film ''The Buddy System''. She went on to pen the scre ...

. The original music score is composed by David Newman.

Melanie Griffith Melanie Richards Griffith (born August 9, 1957) is an American actress. She began her career in the 1970s, appearing in several independent thriller films before achieving mainstream success in the mid-1980s. Born in Manhattan, New York City, ...

and

Don Johnson Donnie Wayne Johnson (born December 15, 1949) is an American actor, producer and singer. He played the role of James "Sonny" Crockett in the 1980s television series ''Miami Vice'', for which he won a Golden Globe, and received a Primetime Em ...

(at the time married to each other) play Lily and Ben Reed, a young couple torn apart by a family tragedy. It would take a miracle to rekindle their love and a miracle arrives in the form of a summer guest - Willard Young (

Elijah Wood Elijah Jordan Wood (born January 28, 1981) is an American actor and producer. He is best known for his portrayal of Frodo Baggins in the ''Lord of the Rings'' film trilogy (2001–2003) and '' The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey'' (2012). Wood ...

). It is a remake of the French film ''

Le Grand Chemin ''Le grand chemin'' is a 1987 French film directed by Jean-Loup Hubert. It was released in the U.S. as ''The Grand Highway'', and was remade in 1991 as ''Paradise''. It won the César Award for Best Actor and Best Actress. Plot Louis, a timid ...

'' by

Jean-Loup Hubert Jean-Loup Hubert (born 4 October 1949) is a French director and screenwriter A screenplay writer (also called screenwriter, scriptwriter, scribe or scenarist) is a writer who practices the craft of screenwriting, writing screenplays on wh ...

Plot

Willard Young is a 10-year-old boy who is sent by his mother to stay with her best friend Lily Reed, who lives in the Delta shrimp-fishing country in a town called Paradise. At that town, Willard meets 9-year-old Billie Pike. Despite Billie being a troublemaker, she becomes friends with Willard. Lily and Ben also become fond of Willard despite the tragedy of their 2-year old son’s death. Soon, Billie teaches Willard to face his fears although Billie has troubles of her own. When Billie finds out her dad is a skater, she goes to a skating area with Willard only for her dad to tell her to leave much to Billie’s dismay. Later at a party, Billie tells Willard his father left him and his mother for another woman. Upon hearing this, Willard becomes so upset that he runs away and goes missing for a while. When Ben finds him, he doesn’t trust him until he saves him from a bad accident. Later in the film, Lily blames herself for her son’s death but Ben reassures her. Towards the end of the film, Willard has to go home and he sees his mother’s new baby. The film ends with Lily and Ben kissing under their porch. That doesn’t mean that they have recovered from the tragedy but it does mean that they have regained their love.

Cast

Reception

''Paradise'' received mixed to negative reviews from critics, as it holds a 33% rating on

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...

from 12 reviews. Audiences polled by

CinemaScore CinemaScore is a market research firm based in Las Vegas. It surveys film audiences to rate their viewing experiences with letter grades, reports the results, and forecasts box office receipts based on the data. Background Ed Mintz founded Ci ...

gave the film an average grade of "A−" on an A+ to F scale.

References

External links

* * * * 1991 films 1991 drama films American remakes of French films Films based on French novels Touchstone Pictures films Interscope Communications films American drama films Films scored by David Newman 1991 directorial debut films Films produced by Scott Kroopf 1990s English-language films 1990s American films {{1990s-drama-film-stub