''Return to Paradise'' is a 1998 American

drama Drama is the specific Mode (literature), mode of fiction Mimesis, represented in performance: a Play (theatre), play, opera, mime, ballet, etc., performed in a theatre, or on Radio drama, radio or television.Elam (1980, 98). Considered as a g ...

- thriller film directed by

Joseph Ruben Joseph Porter Ruben (born May 10, 1950) is an American retired filmmaker. Movie career Ruben's earlier films, such as ''The Stepfather (1987 film), The Stepfather'', have become cult classics. In the 1990s, he went to direct high-grossing mainst ...

, written by Wesley Strick and Bruce Robinson, and starring Vince Vaughn, Anne Heche, and

Joaquin Phoenix Joaquin Rafael Phoenix ( ; ; born October 28, 1974) is an American actor. Widely described as one of the most preeminent actors of his generation and known for Joaquin Phoenix filmography, his roles as dark, unconventional and eccentric charact ...

. ''Return to Paradise'' is a

remake A remake is a film, television series, video game, song or similar form of entertainment that is based upon and retells the story of an earlier production in the same medium—e.g., a "new version of an existing film". A remake tells the same s ...

of the 1989 French film '' Force majeure''. The film had its premiere on August 10, 1998, and was released to theaters on August 14, 1998. It is the first film on-screen collaboration between Vaughn and Heche, the second film being '' Psycho'', which was released in the same year.

Plot

Three friends, Lewis McBride, Sheriff and Tony, are seen vacationing in a

Malaysia Malaysia is a country in Southeast Asia. Featuring the Tanjung Piai, southernmost point of continental Eurasia, it is a federation, federal constitutional monarchy consisting of States and federal territories of Malaysia, 13 states and thre ...

n paradise. Their adventures include being almost run over by a car while riding a bicycle, and being pressured into buying some

rhinoceros A rhinoceros ( ; ; ; : rhinoceros or rhinoceroses), commonly abbreviated to rhino, is a member of any of the five extant taxon, extant species (or numerous extinct species) of odd-toed ungulates (perissodactyls) in the family (biology), famil ...

horn from Malaysian locals. They also purchase a large bag of hash from a drug dealer. The three men wind up at their beachfront house on the ocean pondering their future in the island paradise. Tony and Sheriff decide to return to NYC, while Lewis, being a "greenie", wishes to travel to Borneo to save endangered

orangutan Orangutans are great apes native to the rainforests of Indonesia and Malaysia. They are now found only in parts of Borneo and Sumatra, but during the Pleistocene they ranged throughout Southeast Asia and South China. Classified in the genus ...

s. On the last day, they toss the remaining hash in the garbage. As time passes in NYC, Sheriff is working as a limo driver and Tony as an architect. A young lawyer named Beth informs them that their friend Lewis has spent the last two years in

Penang Penang is a Malaysian state located on the northwest coast of Peninsular Malaysia along the Strait of Malacca. It has two parts: Penang Island, where the capital city, George Town, is located, and Seberang Perai on the Malay Peninsula. Th ...

prison in Malaysia, because of hash found at their Malaysian house. She reveals that he will receive the death sentence unless one or both of the men return to share responsibility. Beth assures both of them that they will not suffer in prison, be tortured, or harmed in any way. After a gruelling eight days, during which they must make a decision, Beth and Sheriff begin a heated love affair, and both men decide to return to Malaysia. Upon their arrival, all seems well until they visit the prison to see Lewis. Lewis appears to have suffered psychological damage from the harsh imprisonment, although it is reported that he has not been tortured or starved as is the case with other prisoners. Beth subsequently reveals that she is Lewis' sister and has been blatantly manipulating the two men. Her lie makes Tony fearful of the Malaysian justice system, so he abandons Lewis and flies back to the US. Sheriff initially follows Tony, but decides to face jail to save his friend and returns to the courtroom in which Lewis is being tried. The judge seems heartened by this act of courage, until he discovers a news clipping from an American newspaper blaming the Malaysian justice system and condemning them for their harsh sentencing of Lewis. Because of this, he becomes infuriated and gives Lewis a death sentence, despite Sheriff's decision to accept his share of the responsibility. He also gives Sheriff an unknown period of jail time. As Lewis is taken to his execution, Sheriff hears his screams and struggles. From a window, he is able to call to him, to assure him repeatedly that he is not alone. Just before he is hanged, Lewis calms in response to these assurances and dies quietly. Sheriff assures Beth that Lewis, despite his emotional deterioration, seemed at peace in his final moments. She becomes emotional and kisses Sheriff as a sign of their love and connection. Beth tells him that the attorney general has said that the Malaysian government will quietly release him within six months, once the media attention dies down, to save face. As the guard takes Sheriff out, Beth says that she will take her brother back home and then return to Malaysia to await his release.

Cast

* Vince Vaughn as John "Sheriff" Volgecherev * Anne Heche as Beth Eastern *

as Lewis McBride * David Conrad as Tony Croft * Vera Farmiga as Kerrie * Nick Sandow as Ravitch * Jada Pinkett Smith as M.J. Major * Raymond J. Barry as Sheriff's Father * Patrick Teoh as Chief Judge * Deanna Yusoff as Woman in Bar

Production

The film was directed by

, and the screenplay was written by Wesley Strick and Bruce Robinson. Propaganda Films, Tetragram and

PolyGram Filmed Entertainment PolyGram Filmed Entertainment (formerly known as Filmworks, Casablanca Record & Filmworks, PolyGram Films and PolyGram Pictures or simply PFE) was a film production company founded in 1975 as an American film studio, which became a European co ...

produced the feature, which was distributed by the latter in the United States,

Universal Pictures Universal City Studios LLC, doing business as Universal Pictures (also known as Universal Studios or simply Universal), is an American filmmaking, film production and film distribution, distribution company headquartered at the 10 Universal Ci ...

in Germany,

Warner Bros. Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (WBEI), commonly known as Warner Bros. (WB), is an American filmed entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California and the main namesake subsidiary of Warner Bro ...

in France and

20th Century Fox 20th Century Studios, Inc., formerly 20th Century Fox, is an American film studio, film production and Film distributor, distribution company owned by the Walt Disney Studios (division), Walt Disney Studios, the film studios division of the ...

in Argentina. Anne Heche,

and Vince Vaughn were cast in the three leading roles of Beth Eastern, Lewis McBride and John "Sheriff" Volgecherev, respectively. Vera Farmiga made her feature film debut with this film, in the supporting role of Kerrie. Jada Pinkett Smith was cast in the supporting role of M.J. Major, and David Conrad was cast in the supporting role of Tony Croft.

Principal photography Principal photography is the phase of producing a film or television show in which the bulk of shooting takes place, as distinct from the phases of pre-production and post-production. Personnel Besides the main film personnel, such as the ...

began in November 1997, in locations including

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

Hong Kong Hong Kong)., Legally Hong Kong, China in international treaties and organizations. is a special administrative region of China. With 7.5 million residents in a territory, Hong Kong is the fourth most densely populated region in the wor ...

Phuket Phuket (; , , or ''Tongkah'') is one of the Southern Thailand, southern Provinces of Thailand, provinces (''changwat'') of Thailand. It consists of the island of Phuket, List of islands of Thailand, the country's largest island, and another 3 ...

and

Macau Macau or Macao is a special administrative regions of China, special administrative region of the People's Republic of China (PRC). With a population of about people and a land area of , it is the most List of countries and dependencies by p ...

Reception

Box office

''Return to Paradise'' made $2,465,129 in its opening weekend in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

(ranking 14th overall at the box office) for a per theater average of $2,554. The film's eventual domestic gross of $8,341,087 failed to recoup its $14 million budget.

Critical response

The film received mostly positive reviews from film critics.

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review aggregator, 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 ...

gave the film a 70% approval rating, based on 44 reviews, with an average rating of 6.6/10. On

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

it has a rating of 54 out of 100 based on reviews from 22 critics. Audiences polled by

CinemaScore CinemaScore is an American 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 from the data. Background Ed Mintz, who ...

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

Roger Ebert Roger Joseph Ebert ( ; June 18, 1942 – April 4, 2013) was an American Film criticism, film critic, film historian, journalist, essayist, screenwriter and author. He wrote for the ''Chicago Sun-Times'' from 1967 until his death in 2013. Eber ...

of the ''

Chicago Sun-Times The ''Chicago Sun-Times'' is a daily nonprofit newspaper published in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Since 2022, it is the flagship paper of Chicago Public Media, and has long held the second largest circulation among Chicago newspaper ...

'' gave the film 3.5 out of 4, writing: "''Return to Paradise'' has been compared to '' Midnight Express'', another film about a thoughtless American facing the forfeit of his life in prison far from home. That was more of a visceral film. This one is more cerebral. Like Sheriff and Tony, we're pulled both ways by the story: We want them to go back and save Lewis, but we're not exactly sure we'd do the same. That's the

prisoner's dilemma The prisoner's dilemma is a game theory thought experiment involving two rational agents, each of whom can either cooperate for mutual benefit or betray their partner ("defect") for individual gain. The dilemma arises from the fact that while def ...

in a nutshell."

Owen Gleiberman Owen Gleiberman (born February 24, 1959) is an American film critic who has been chief film critic for '' Variety'' magazine since May 2016, a title he shares with . Previously, Gleiberman wrote for ''Entertainment Weekly'' from 1990 until 2014. ...

of ''

Entertainment Weekly ''Entertainment Weekly'' (sometimes abbreviated as ''EW'') is an American online magazine, digital-only entertainment magazine based in New York City, published by Dotdash Meredith, that covers film, television, music, Broadway theatre, books, ...

'' wrote: "''Return to Paradise'' sounds as gimmicky as a '' Twilight Zone'' episode, but it's not. The film tracks the week in which Sheriff struggles to discover his conscience, and it puts us right in touch with his squirmy, divided soul." Janet Maslin of ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'' wrote: "As Sheriff, Mr. Vaughn projects a deep-seated skepticism and chilliness that give the story its suspense; he seems quite capable of keeping his distance and leaving Lewis to die. And Mr. Phoenix, though not often seen after the film's vivid Malaysian prologue, conveys the terrible pathos in Lewis's situation. But as Ms. Heche's formidable Beth Eastern does her best to manipulate the other characters on Lewis's behalf, ''Return to Paradise'' takes on the abstract weightiness of an ethical debate rather than the visceral urgency of a thriller. Though the clock ticks relentlessly enough to sustain the story's tension, the film finally seems to be a character study in search of a gripping plot." Kenneth Turan of the ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' is an American Newspaper#Daily, daily newspaper that began publishing in Los Angeles, California, in 1881. Based in the Greater Los Angeles city of El Segundo, California, El Segundo since 2018, it is the List of new ...

'' gave a negative review, writing: "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."

Accolades

Two of the actors were nominated for

Hungary Hungary is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning much of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia and ...

's Csapnivaló best performers awards in 2000.

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Return to Paradise (1998 film) 1998 films 1998 romantic drama films 1990s romantic thriller films American romantic drama films American romantic thriller films American remakes of French films Films about capital punishment Films directed by Joseph Ruben Gramercy Pictures films PolyGram Filmed Entertainment films Universal Pictures films Films scored by Mark Mancina Films set in Malaysia Films shot in Hong Kong Films shot in Macau Films shot in New York City Films shot in New Jersey Films shot in Philadelphia Films shot in Thailand Films with screenplays by Wesley Strick Films with screenplays by Bruce Robinson 1990s English-language films 1990s American films English-language romantic drama films English-language romantic thriller films