Paradise

PG-13

2013

1 hr. 26 min.

Comedy

List

20%

41 Reviews

Tomatometer

30%

1,000+ Ratings

Audience Score

After surviving a plane crash, a young woman (Julianne Hough) experiences the wild side of life in Las Vegas.

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Critics Consensus

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.

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SEG

A story well told as the system of capitalism continues to kill and choke humanity. And lives are directly stolen. Well acted. Excellent cinematography. Thought provoking.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

08/04/23

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Audience Member

"You may have it bad, but you aren't the only one with problems."

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

01/12/23

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Audience Member

Review: Although the jokes were quite silly, the concept was sweet and the gullible Lamb Mannerhelm really did have a life changing experience in Las Vegas. The storyline follows Lamb Mannerhelms journey into exploring the world after suffering severe burns in an airplane crash. With loads of money at her disposal after the airline pays her out a lump sum, she heads to Las Vegas after denouncing God in church in front of her family and Christian congregation. Whilst in Las Vegas, she becomes friends with William (Russell Brand) who is a bartender in a seedy club. She also becomes friends with Loray whose a singer in the same club and she decides to show her the real Las Vegas. When William finishes his shift, he joins them on there crazy journey and Lamb gets introduced to many different aspects of the world. Its a sweat storyline which is based around people who have to live with a disability and find it hard to go out into the world. With the help of William and Loray, Lamb soon realises that she can do some good for people who also have there own insecurities and money problems, like the prostitute that she meets in the toilet. I would have liked to have seen what the prostitute done with the money but the director chose to cut that element out of the movie. Anyway, I liked the chemistry between Lamb, William and Loray and the progression of her journey was quite enjoyable. I must admit, I was expecting this movie to be really crap but it actually wasn't that bad. Russell Brand was quite toned down compared to a lot of his other performances and he showed a lot of sympathy to Lamb's disability which was a great touch to the storyline. Although the movie didn't get the big budget treatment and it didn't go down well with critics, it still has a very sweet concept which was enjoyable in places.Â Round-Up: Although Julianne Hough, 27, isn't a household name, she has starred in some big movies like Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone, Burlesque, Footloose (the remake), Rock of Ages and Safe Haven. There wasn't that much more that she could have done with the role in this movie so I can honestly say that she put in a good performance but I can't really remember her in any of the other movies. She hasn't really got that much in the pipeline in terms of major releases and as this movie didn't do well at the box office, she still has a way to climb before she hits the big time. This is the first movie directed by Diablo Cody, which is why it didn't get a massive distribution budget but she did write Ricki and the Flash which is an upcoming movie with Meryl Streep and Kevin Kline, the award winning Juno, the funny Young Adult and the weird Jennifer's Body. Most of the movies that she has directed have definitely touched audiences heart, from an emotional point of view but she hasn't been able to hit the same height as she did in 2007 with Juno. Personally, I think that she done a great job with this movie but it's a shame that it will go under the radar because of its poor ratings. I recommend this movie to people who are into their emotional comedy/dramas about a young girl who gets injured in a plane crash and leaves her small town to experience the world. 4/10

Rated 2 out of 5 stars

01/18/23

Full Review

Audience Member

Underrated, in my opinion. Not groundbreaking but Russell Brand's performance was excellent, with nuance and depth, and the story is engaging. The ending was abrupt and somewhat incongruous.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

02/22/23

Full Review

walter m

In "Paradise," Lamb Mannerheim(Julianne Hough) has had her beliefs severely challenged by a near fatal plane crash that has left her with burns over most of her body. She expresses those new ideas, especially the parts about now being an atheist and even possibly voting Democrat in the next election, in front of her church, instead of announcing her donation of her settlement money. Rather, she will use some of that money to spread her wings. But instead of traveling to London to do jell-o shots with Richard Dawkins, she flies to Las Vegas for some general debauchery that begins ominously with a peach schnapps. With her engaging directorial debut "Paradise," Diablo Cody shows that along with her skill with words, she also has a knack for visual imagery. It helps that Cody seldom goes after easy targets while having the movie's sweet protagonist find herself and the world, and maybe not in that order. That's not to mention an excellent turn from Octavia Spencer.(I don't know what to make of Russell Brand and probably never will.)

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

03/31/23

Full Review

Audience Member

Tough to watch at times; semi-downer of a film is kept a float by a decent script and good acting.

Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars

02/20/23

Full Review

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Diablo Cody

Director

Julianne Hough

Lamb

Russell Brand

William

Octavia Spencer

Loray

Nick Offerman

Doug Mannerheim

Holly Hunter

Melanie Mannerheim

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23%

33%

Girl Most Likely

0%

53%

Folks!

46%

59%

Last Vegas

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Rex Reed

Observer

The movie goes nowhere, and Ms. Cody's screenplay is relentlessly talky while standing still.

Rated: 2/4

Oct 23, 2013

Full Review

Brian Tallerico

HollywoodChicago.com

Hough sleepwalks through Cody's worst effort to date as a writer and only supporting turns by the always-game Russell Brand and never-bad Octavia Spencer save the film from being a strong candidate for the worst of the year. It still comes close.

Rated: 1.0/5.0

Oct 21, 2013

Full Review

Kyle Smith

New York Post

Cody's satiric knocks on Christians couldn't be more blundering and obvious. Yet her dialogue is often funny, and the unusual three-way friendship is refreshing.

Rated: 2/4

Oct 18, 2013

Full Review

Rita Cannon

Battleship Pretension

Paradise claims to be the story of young woman's crisis of faith and subsequent rebirth, but in execution, it feels more like a story about someone who was in a bad mood for a while but eventually got over it.

Feb 16, 2021

Full Review

Nicholas Bell

IONCINEMA.com

Frustrating in its incredible lack of authenticity or genuine emotion, Paradise is a lamb best left to slaughter.

Aug 29, 2019

Full Review

Stephen Saito

Moveable Fest

Cody remains a singular voice for complex characters we don't often see onscreen, steadfast and smart, if usually way out of their depth.

Nov 30, 2018

Full Review

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Synopsis

After surviving a plane crash, a young woman (Julianne Hough) experiences the wild side of life in Las Vegas.

Director: Diablo Cody
Executive Producer: Diablo Cody, Nathan Kahane, Meredith King
Screenwriter: Diablo Cody
Production Co: Mandate Pictures
Rating: PG-13 (Substance Abuse|Some Language|Sexual Material|Thematic Elements)
Genre: Comedy
Original Language: English
Release Date (Streaming): May 12, 2014
Box Office (Gross USA): $6.0K

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