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Paradise Road
Fox Searchlight Pictures
FILM:
MPAA 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)
| GENRE(S): |
Drama
|
War
|
| WRITTEN BY: |
Bruce Beresford
David Giles (story)
Martin Meader (story)
Betty Jeffrey (diaries)
|
| DIRECTED BY: |
Bruce Beresford
|
| RELEASE DATE: |
DVD: December 17, 2002
Video: March 13, 2001
Theatrical: April 11, 1997
|
| RUNNING TIME: |
122 minutes, Color |
| ORIGIN: |
Australia / USA |
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...
88
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).
75
San Francisco Examiner
Edvins Beitiks
It's a beautiful movie. Too beautiful for its own good, really.
70
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.
63
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.
60
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.
58
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.
50
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.
50
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.
50
Christian Science Monitor
David Sterritt
The story has charming and uplifting moments as well as strong performances by an impressive cast.
50
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.
50
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.
50
Chicago Sun-Times
Roger Ebert
But what the movie lacks is a story arc to pull us through.
50
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.
40
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.
40
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?
40
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]
40
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]
38
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]
 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.
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