DIRECTED BY: Joseph Ruben
STARRING: Vince Vaughn, Anna Heche, Joaquin Phoenix, David Conrad, Vera Farmiga, Nick Sandow and Jada Pinkett Smith
BUDGET: $14m
EARNED (Worldwide): $8.3m
AWARDS: None
Two friends must choose whether to help a third friend who was arrested in Malaysia for drug possession and do time or else choose freedom and let him hang.
Return to Paradise begins with three friends nearing the end of their vacation in Malaysia, each of them going back to their lives except for Lewis, who decides to fulfil his dream of saving apes and living with them. Two years later, Sheriff is met by Beth Eastern, a young lawyer that informs him that Lewis has spent the last two years in Penang prison because of the hash found at the Malaysian house they all shared. She also reveals to him that Lewis will receive the death sentence unless one or both of the men return to share responsibility and do time in prison. Would either men return to Malaysia to do a prison sentence for a man they barely know to save his life?
Return to Paradise is a compelling human story where you hope the two men will return to Malaysia to save a life by going to prison, but would you really do the same thing? Especially if both of them return, it’s a three year jail service and if only one of them returns, it’s six years. It’s complicated by the matter that both men don’t want Lewis to die, but they don’t really know him that well (they meet when they were already out there) to be willing to jump into the fire of going into a foreign land to be placed in prison. Mainly we follow the perspective from Sheriff throughout as he’s initially, firmly, not willing to go out there while Tony is. Beth attempts to change Sheriff’s mind and for the two of them, a love story begins to come to fruition. Vince Vaughn’s performance reminds you of the serious acting chops he carries with him, Phoenix is good in the little time on screen he has as Lewis, showing a range of a man with hopeful dreams to a man without hope, David Conrad is good as Tony, a family man willing to do the right thing for Lewis, but the performance for me was Anna Heche as Beth, balancing the fine line between asking them to save Lewis and hitting them with moral/emotional blackmail.
FAVOURITE SCENE: The execution scene, with Sheriff looking on screaming out to ease Lewis of what was to come.
FAVOURITE QUOTE: ‘I asked myself… would I come back for you? And the only answer is a Godless, empty, evil… no. I’m sorry I wouldn’t have come back. I’m sorry.’ – Lewis McBride
DID YOU KNOW?: Cuba Gooding Jr. turned down the role of Tony the architect.
Irish Cinephile 