Paradise Road Review
by Michael J. Legeros (legeros AT pagesz DOT net)April 29th, 1997
PARADISE ROAD
A film review by Michael John Legeros
Copyright 1997 Michael John Legeros
(Fox Searchlight)
Directed by Bruce Beresford
Written by Bruce Beresford
Cast Glenn Close, Cate Blanchett, Jennifer Ehle, Frances McDormand, Pauline Collins, Elizabeth Spriggs, Julianna Margulies, Johanna ter Steege, Wendy Hughes, Tessa Humphries, Pamela Rabe, Sab Shimono
MPAA Rating "R" (presumably for violence and nudity) Running Time 115 minutes
Reviewed at The Colony Theatre, Raleigh, NC (25APR97)
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PARADISE ROAD gets my vote for Most Boring Movie of the Year. A bunch of stately actresses play a bunch of stately prisoners of war, interred by the Japanese during World War II, and who form a "vocal orchestra" as a way to wail in harmony. The story is true and the actresses are appealing and neither of these is a reason to recommend this exceptionally uninteresting movie. Oh, sure, a *few* things happen: one woman is doused with gasoline and set on fire. A catfight erupts over soap in the shower. And Francis McDormand speaks in a campy German accent. (Well, at least that's one less role to cast for a big- screen update of "Hogan's Heroes.") With the exception of a-cappella renditions of Dvorak and Ravel, there isn't a thing here that we haven't seen before. I kept praying for the film to break.
Grade: C
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Mike Legeros - Movie Hell
http://www.n-vision.com/hell
Originally posted in the rec.arts.movies.reviews newsgroup. Copyright belongs to original author unless otherwise stated. We take no responsibilities nor do we endorse the contents of this review.
