Return to Paradise

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Joseph Ruben directs. Reynaldo Villalobos behind the camera. Mark Mancina scores. Craig McKay cuts. Produced in United States of America. Dialogue in English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

• 128 years old — old enough to be someone's favourite childhood film.
• 2Directed by Joseph Ruben, shot by Reynaldo Villalobos. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
• 3Original score by Mark Mancina. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
• 4Editor Craig McKay shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
• 5Vince Vaughn and Anne Heche and Joaquin Phoenix carry the top of the cast.
• 6Marketing tagline: "Give up three years of their lives or give up the life of their friend. They have eight days to decide.".
• 7IMDB entry: tt0124595 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.

The technical file

Cinematography

Reynaldo Villalobos

Original score

Mark Mancina

Editing

Craig McKay

Production design

Bill Groom

Costume design

Juliet Polcsa

Makeup / hair

Francesca Paris

Stunt coordinator

Jack Gill

Runtime

109 min · 1h 49m

Aspect ratio (typical)

1.37:1 (Academy)

Status

Released

Original language

EN

Certification (US)

R

IMDB

Return to Paradise (1998) ↗

Also by

Joseph Ruben

• 
  The Good Son

  1993 · ★ 6.8
• 
  The Stepfather

  1987 · ★ 6.6
• 
  Sleeping with the Enemy

  1991 · ★ 6.5
• 
  True Believer

  1989 · ★ 6.2
• 
  Dreamscape

  1984 · ★ 6.1
• 
  The Ottoman Lieutenant

  2017 · ★ 6.0

Stills · wallpapers

Selected frames

Full-resolution frames — open one to save it as a wallpaper.

Wallpaper Wallpaper

Trailers & featurettes

Watch the pieces

• 

  ▶
  The Heartbreaking Prison Visit

  Clip · Official
• 

  ▶
  Trailer

  Trailer · Official

Community reviews

What people are saying

• Wuchak2022-01-15
  ★ 5/10

  Great moral conundrum and message, but too contrived "Return to Paradise" (1998) is about three Americans in Malaysia. Two of them are friends from New York City (Vincent Vaughn and David Conrad) and the other they meet there, an environmental-hippie type (Joaquin Phoenix). The three have a great time partying together and then the two from New York go back to the grind in the USA. Two years later they find out that their friend in Malaysia has been in prison for having too much hashish, which the three purchased together. Due to the country's severe drug laws, those considered traffickers are put to death and, unfortunately, the hippie possessed beyond the limit. He'll hang in eight days unless the other two go back and they'll all get 3 years in prison; if only one goes back it's 6 years each. Will they go back? That's the set-up of the film and it's not a spoiler since this all unfolds in the first 20 minutes, which means that most of the rest of the movie takes place in New York and focuses on whether or not the other two will go back and save their friend. Keep in mind that this was a dude they met in Malaysia so it's not like they were bosom buddies from their youth or anything. The trailer of "Return to Paradise" miss-advertised the film as a thriller largely taking place in exotic SE Asia, but that's not the case. This is a drama that involves a moral conundrum, a Christ figure and possible redemption. The story concentrates on Vaughn and Anne Heche, the latter as the lawyer of the hippie who tries to convince the other two to go back to save their friend. Complicating the situation even further is the fact that there are no legal documents involved since Malaysia is a third world country and, as such, there's no guarantee that the two will "only" get three years. And what about the other potential negative possibilities, like never making it out of the hellhole alive? This is a top of the line film and the producers went all-out to serve up a quality picture; for instance, the Malaysian prison scenes are very convincing. Also, the actors are great across the board and Vaughn proves that he can nail a dramatic role. Moreover the moral is to die for, no pun intended. Unfortunately the actors are strapped to the contrivances of the plot and I had a hard time seeing them as real people in a real situation. In other words, it seemed like the characters do this-or-that merely because the screenplay says he or she is supposed to do this-or-that at that moment. And so I was never really able to embrace them as real people, but rather as puppets manipulated by the script. Still, it's not bad and it's worth catching if you like the actors and the story trips your trigger. The film runs 111 minutes and was shot in New York City, Thailand, New Jersey, Philadelphia and China. GRADE: C+

  Read full review ↓

Production companies

Who made it

• TE

  Tetragram

• 

  Propaganda Films

  US

• 

  PolyGram Filmed Entertainment

  US

Key crew

• EditorCraig McKay
• NovelPierre Jolivet
• Stunt DoubleJoe Bucaro III
• Stunt CoordinatorJack Gill
• Second Assistant DirectorJulie A. Bloom
• Script SupervisorCorey B. Yugler
• Co-ProducerMichael E. Steele
• Stunt CoordinatorPeter Bucossi
• First Assistant DirectorMichael E. Steele
• Still PhotographerBarry Wetcher
• CastingKathleen Chopin
• Unit Production ManagerEzra Swerdlow
• Costume DesignJuliet Polcsa
• Assistant Production ManagerLucille Smith
• Co-ProducerCharles Wang
• EditorAndrew Mondshein
• Production DesignBill Groom
• Sound MixerWilliam Sarokin
• Assistant Art DirectorMiguel López-Castillo
• Boom OperatorJeanne Gilliland
• Assistant Set DresserCarol Silverman
• Unit PublicistCarrie Gerlach
• Construction ForemanMalcolm Reid
• Executive ProducerEzra Swerdlow

Themes & keywords

What it's about, really

• death penalty
• friendship
• malaysia
• marijuana
• childhood friends

Release history · US

When it landed

• Theatrical1998-08-10R
• Digital2010-02-23R
• Physical2003-09-02R· DVD
• Physical2020-01-14R· Blu-ray

Also known as

International titles

• Pela vida de um amigoBR