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Paradise Road
EMAILPRINTFox Searchlight Pictures
Mixed or average reviews
Based on 18 critic reviews
How did we calculate this?
Based on 2 votes
Read user comments
Rate this movie >
Movie Info
Genre(s): Drama | War
Written by:
Bruce Beresford
David Giles (story)
Martin Meader (story)
Betty Jeffrey (diaries)
Directed by: Bruce Beresford
Release Date:
Theatrical: April 11, 1997
DVD: December 17, 2002
Running Time: 122 minutes, Color
Origin: Australia / USA
Summary
RATING: R for prisoner of war brutality and violence
Starring Glenn Close, Frances McDormand, Pauline Collins, Cate Blanchett, Jennifer Ehle, Julianna Margulies, Wendy Hughes, and Johanna ter Steege
Set in World War II Singapore, this is the story of several European women who are imprisoned by the Japanese and seek solace from the horror of their imprisonment by forming a vocal orchestra. (Fox Searchlight)
Also On Metacritic
FILM: Bride of the Wind Double Jeopardy Evelyn
Also On The Web: Internet Movie Database
What The Critics Said
All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...
ReelViews James Berardinelli
The exceptionally strong cast showcases American, British, and Australian actresses, all of whom show an astonishing willingness to appear in physically unflattering circumstances (no makeup, hair and skin caked with drying mud).
Read Full Review >San Francisco Examiner Edvins Beitiks
It's a beautiful movie. Too beautiful for its own good, really.
Read Full Review >Variety Emanuel Levy
Though carefully rendered from a historical perspective, this powerful account of female friendship and bonding under the most cruel conditions lacks the narrative focus and dramatic shapeliness to generate emotional excitement.
Read Full Review >The Globe and Mail (Toronto) Rick Groen
Given the predictable scenario, this picture needs passion, and all it gets is his workmanlike precision. What he's constructed is worthy enough, and certainly navigable, but you need more than the bricks of craft to build a road to paradise.
Read Full Review >The New York Times Stephen Holden
In trying to keep track of everybody while providing enough melodrama to sustain an atmosphere of controlled terror, Paradise Road stumbles all over itself and never really finds its center.
Read Full Review >Entertainment Weekly Lisa Schwarzbaum
Beresford, who'd like to teach the world to sing, makes the moment as moving as a Coca-Cola jingle. It's not the real thing, but it's effective.
Read Full Review >Los Angeles Times Kenneth Turan
A warmhearted horror show that puts cliched movie people into a realistic situation, the signals it sends out are nothing but mixed.
Read Full Review >Chicago Reader Jonathan Rosenbaum
But the inspirational aspects of the tale--which mainly has to do with the determination of Close to form a vocal orchestra at the camp, despite the class divisions between the women--never quite carry the dramatic impact they're supposed to.
Read Full Review >Christian Science Monitor David Sterritt
The story has charming and uplifting moments as well as strong performances by an impressive cast.
Read Full Review >Rolling Stone Peter Travers
What should have been an affecting film becomes a rank blend of sentiment and sadism in the hands of Bruce Beresford, the Australian writer and director.
Read Full Review >San Francisco Chronicle Peter Stack
A big problem in the beautifully shot movie, with top-billed Glenn Close heading a fine ensemble cast, is that there are too many characters.
Read Full Review >Chicago Sun-Times Roger Ebert
But what the movie lacks is a story arc to pull us through.
Read Full Review >TV Guide Staff(not credited)
It's strange to imagine the subject of World War II a now no-brainer in the same league as sequels and old TV show-spinoffs, something safe and familiar in light of its new, "inspiring" spin. But that's the only way to explain the existence of this otherwise pointless picture.
Read Full Review >Austin Chronicle Steve Davis
Ultimately, Paradise Road is one of those well-intended films that doesn't completely succeed because it shortsightedly believes that its eloquent subject matter is enough, in and of itself, to create a memorable moviegoing experience.
Read Full Review >Time Richard Schickel
But in shaping their tale for the screen, shouldn't he have honored their courage--and, yes, inventiveness--with something other than cliches?
Read Full Review >Washington Post Rita Kempley
A queasy union of savagery and uplift, the film ought to be unnerving. Instead, it finally becomes routine. [18Apr1997 Pg. C.07]
Washington Post Desson Thomson
There's grist here for a genuinely stirring film. But writer-director Bruce Beresford -- who created the screenplay from interviews with real-life World War II prisoners (who also performed music for the Japanese) -- reduces everything to its most uninteresting banality. [18Apr1997 Pg. N.44]
USA Today Susan Wloszczyna
It settles for the recycled emotions of the past despite the fact "Schindler's List" has forever made such treatment shamefully passe. [18Apr1997 Pg.03.D]
What Our Users Said
The average user rating for this movie is 7.0 (out of 10) based on 2 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.
Jude M. gave it an8:
Immensely moved, especially by the fact that original scores which survived the camp were used for the vocal orchestra.
