''Paradise'' (also known as ''Lamb of God'') is a 2013 American comedy-drama film written and directed by

Diablo Cody Brook Maurio (''née'' Busey; born June 14, 1978), known professionally by the pen name Diablo Cody, is an American writer and producer. She gained recognition for her candid blog and subsequent memoir, '' Candy Girl: A Year in the Life of an Unl ...

, in her

directorial debut This is a list of film directorial debuts in chronological order. The films and dates referred to are a director's first commercial cinematic release. Many film makers have directed works which were not commercially released, for example early work ...

. It stars

Julianne Hough Julianne Alexandra Hough (; born July 20, 1988) is an American dancer, actress, and singer. In 2007, she joined the cast of ABC's ''Dancing with the Stars'' as a professional dancer, winning two seasons with her celebrity partners. After leavin ...

, Russell Brand,

Octavia Spencer Octavia Lenora Spencer (born May 25, 1970) is an American actress. She is the recipient of several accolades, including an Academy Award, a British Academy Film Award, a Golden Globe Award, two Critics' Choice Awards and three Screen Actors ...

Holly Hunter Holly Patricia Hunter (born March 20, 1958) is an American actress. For her performance as Ada McGrath in the 1993 drama film '' The Piano'', Hunter won the Academy Award for Best Actress. She earned three additional Academy Award nominations for ...

Iliza Shlesinger Iliza Vie Shlesinger (; born ) is an American comedian, actress, television host, executive producer, and screenwriter. She was the 2008 winner of NBC's ''Last Comic Standing'' and went on to host the syndicated dating show ''Excused'' and the ...

and

Kathleen Rose Perkins Kathleen Rose Perkins (born November 15, 1974) is an American actress. Life and career Perkins was born in New Baltimore, Michigan, the daughter of Leonard and Donna Perkins. She graduated from Anchor Bay High School (1992) and enrolled in We ...

and was released October 18, 2013. The title is a take on the fact that while many tourists are visiting the Las Vegas Strip, they are actually spending most of their time in the town of

Paradise In religion, paradise is a place of exceptional happiness and delight. Paradisiacal notions are often laden with pastoral imagery, and may be cosmogonical or eschatological or both, often compared to the miseries of human civilization: in parad ...

rather than in the actual city of

Las Vegas Las Vegas (; Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the state of Nevada, and the county seat of Clark County. The city anchors the Las Vegas ...

. This was the last film by

Mandate Pictures Mandate Pictures was a full-service film production company acquired by Lionsgate in 2007. History In 2005, Mandate Pictures was officially formed when the Los Angeles–based Senator International completed a management buyout from German indie ...

before it was reorganized as

Good Universe Good Universe is an American film production company founded by Joe Drake and Nathan Kahane. History In Spring 2012, Good Universe was launched as longtime partners Joe Drake and Nathan Kahane transitioned out of Lionsgate, where Drake served as ...

Plot

Lamb Mannerhelm goes to speak at her family's church in Montana one year after surviving a plane crash, which has left her with severe burns all over her body. While everyone is expecting her to make some big announcement, she instead publicly denounces her belief in

God In monotheistic thought, God is usually viewed as the supreme being, creator, and principal object of faith. Swinburne, R.G. "God" in Honderich, Ted. (ed)''The Oxford Companion to Philosophy'', Oxford University Press, 1995. God is typically ...

, causing a major uproar in the church. Lamb later explains some of the strict rules she has to live by in her conservative town, like listening only to Christian music, and not being allowed to wear pants. She was awarded money after the crash. Feeling both angry and inexperienced in life, Lamb heads to

to indulge in the sinful pleasures that are objected in her community as she sees surviving the plane crash as a second chance at life and time for her to now live life on her own terms. Once there, she goes to a random bar in order to have her first drink, where she meets a bartender named William, and a singer named Loray. William is a British bartender living in Las Vegas while Loray is a part time film student who sings at the HiLo casino there. Lamb who had her first drink have adventures with Loray and meet sodomites in nightclubs as well as try ziplining. Lamb whose skin condition is worsening and bleeding is comforted by William and Loray but to all efforts she takes off in a cab. William and Loray soon find Lamb and is taken to her hotel by William. Lamb tries to seduce William but he refuses to make love due to her bleeding on her shoulder. Lamb does not want to return to Blakesley, Montana and wishes to stay in Vegas. William then explains there are plenty of fish in the sea and that the world is not just Blakesley, Montana or the Vegas Strip. She tries to understand. The next day, Lamb gives William money for Loray to return to school and tries a chocolate orgasm. She then heads to Blakesley and reconciles with her family. William still works at HiLo while Loray found an internship near her sister's place in Florida.

Cast

as Lamb Mannerhelm * Russell Brand as William *

as Loray * Nick Offerman as Mr. Mannerhelm *

as Mrs. Mannerhelm *

as Carol *

as Amber

Filming

The film was shot in New Orleans. Cast member Russell Brand was arrested during the shoot for grabbing a photographer's iPhone and throwing it through a window.

Reception

Critical response

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 ...

, the film holds an approval rating of 22% based on 41 reviews, with an average rating of 4.37/10. The website's critics consensus reads: "''Paradise'' rounds up an impressive array of talent on either side of the camera -- all of whom would presumably prefer that audiences forget their involvement in this misfire."

Metacritic Metacritic is a website that aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created by Jason Dietz, Marc ...

gives the film a weighted average score of 35 out of 100, based on 15 critics, indicating ”generally unfavorable reviews".

References

External links

* * {{Diablo Cody 2013 films American comedy-drama films Films set in the Las Vegas Valley 2013 comedy-drama films Films with screenplays by Diablo Cody Films produced by Mason Novick Films scored by Rachel Portman Mandate Pictures films Films directed by Diablo Cody 2013 directorial debut films 2010s English-language films 2010s American films