Paradise (1991)

Cast includes:
CHARACTER	ACTOR/ACTRESS	RATING
Lily Reed	Melanie Griffith	½
Ben Reed	Don Johnson	½
Willard Young	Elijah Wood
Billie Pike	Thora Birch	½
Sally Pike	Sheila McCarthy
Rosemary	Eve Gordon	½
Catherine Reston Lee	Louise Latham	½
Darlene	Sarah Trigger	½

Review

Adapted from the French Le Grand Chemin, this Mary Agnes Donoughe film is one of those hidden treasures that has received far less acclaim than it should have. It is an incredibly poignant and sincere film about the simple things in life. The direction by Donoughe is wonderful. She's not afraid to cherish her beautiful images, but at the same time she keeps them unpretentious. Although there are trivial moments in the film, Paradise is filled with exceptional scenes and segments – most of them involving a sensational Elijah Wood. It is when Wood and the almost equally brilliant Thora Birch are having their one-on-one sessions that Paradise is at its most genuine (the scene when the two are swimming is singular), but the Wood/Johnson relation is also touching. Only Melanie Griffith struggles (I wonder why she can't speak like a normal person), but even her performance is elevated by Wood's presence. At its best Paradise is a heart-rending and wonderfully absorbing drama.