Movies In Review: Paradise

(2013) Drama 86 minutes

Starring the gorgeous and sweet Julianne Hough as plane crash survivor "Lamb". She comes from a strict religious community where she was not permitted to wear shorts, shave her legs, go to public school, or anything we would consider - ordinary. Lamb is a vivacious young adult who has a promising future, until one day her boyfriend, who could fly planes, took her up in a two-seater. Unfortunately, tragedy struck leaving Lamb with scars all over her body that cause her chronic pain and her boyfriends death. We learn all of this as a back story within the movie.
I admire that they didn't go the route of CGI and the elaborate - tragic plane accident that has us all fearing to take flight ever again. Instead, it really focuses on the human that is left to deal with the scars.

Dealing with the scars...

In the beginning it sets it up to let you know that before her accident she was this beautiful and virtuous young lady. I really love this scene because it has Julianne as Lamb before the accident in the ocean walking around, and Julianne as Lamb after the accident sitting on the beach. This is reality for someone facing what Lamb is going through. You have to mourn for the person that you once were while you are trying to deal with the pain and suffering of what your life is now.

Everybody Has Wounds

Becoming fast friends

I really loved the heart and soul of this movie and what it reminds us. We are a society that is quickly becoming desensitized to human feelings and kindness. That's why I love the characters Loray and William. Loray was wonderfully portrayed by the fabulous Octavia Spencer. She is a hardened woman of the Sunset Strip that is an ironic performer. However, upon meeting Lamb, almost reluctantly she becomes Lamb's tour guide of Las Vegas and leads Lamb to the "real Vegas". She further explains how people go to Las Vegas, but it is really called Paradise, the real Las Vegas is a few miles away.

Enter the mysterious William, played by Russell Brand. I'm a sucker for the English accent. William is a bartender and is one of the first encounters of the naive Lamb upon her arrival. He explains that Lamb is like waking up and experiencing that fresh morning snow, untouched and beautiful. While you would think he would be the 'love interest' and Lamb has those 'tingling' feelings for him. He is a pure gentlemen - which I admire - he shows her respect; which let's face it - doesn't happen anymore in life. 

The Napkin of Sin

Lamb had denounced her faith in front of her entire congregation at a church service. She was mad and questioned why this happened to her. So, she decided enough is enough and that she wanted to experience and live life. So, she jet sets from Montana to Nevada in the hope of committing some sins and finally tasting the sweetness of life. While she is on the prowl for fun in Las Vegas, a bar full of people write down on a napkin what they think she should do. This included smoking, ink, and porn. I thought it was really cute the innocence of it all. When she got her tramp stamp, it was just a tiny dot. This sequence was great though and brought a smile to my face (in a time that I needed one). 

Julianne, Holly, and Nick playing
The Mannerheim's

After Lamb gets her fill of Sin City, she heads home to her loyal and loving parents, the Mannerheim's, portrayed by Nick Offerman and the legendary Holly Hunter (who I absolutely adore). It would only be a short visit, Lamb had more exploring to do, she wants to travel. In the end of the movie we see that Lamb is traveling all over, because William displays his postcards that he receives from her up on the bar wall where he works. I would have liked to see Lamb and William reconnect, but life doesn't always work out that way and why should movies continually feed those fantasies - entertainment, that's why! 

Overall I gave this movie 8 out of 10 stars on IMDb.com. It felt real and was personal for me since I have physical scars and deal with chronic pain myself. I could relate to a lot of what Lamb was going through. While Lamb has an amazing ending to her movie, many people left with physical scars for life do not get that big settlement check. Which Lamb addresses in the movie as well - she refers to it as a miracle - that she was able to obtain a settlement check and that she had people that love her and take care of her. Not everyone has that and it makes the process much more difficult. The movie addresses Lamb's human struggles, short, sweet, and to the point. Loved it.

 

Paradise (2013) on IMDb.com

Faith Warrior: Testimony In Life - Persevering Pain

Faith Warrior: Testimony In Life - Survivor

Movies in Review: Safe Haven

This review contains spoilers

When watching the preview for Safe Haven, it reminded me of the premise of Sleeping with the Enemy (1991). However, While Safe Haven is in the same class, it can also hold its own. I would definitely recommend this movie, especially if you like romantic thrillers. It starts off with Julianne Hough's character dramatically running away, an escape. She utilizes a neighbors help, entering as a brunette and leaving as a blonde. This evades police in their attempts to apprehend her. From what is perceived at this point, her hands were sodden wit h blood.

Her escape was provided by means of a bus, where she comes across a sleepy town that is just the pace she's looking for. She decides to stay after the owner of the country store caught her eye and she was charmed by his small daughter. She seeks employment with a local restaurant and starts to set-up her new home, in the middle of the woods. Here, she meets a seemingly snooping new neighbor "Jo". They might have started on the wrong foot, but they become friends and Jo gives her a different perspective that she needs to learn trust again.

Josh Duhamel (Transformers) plays Alex, the gentlemen that the leading protagonist lady needs in her life. Julianne Hough (Dancing with the Stars), we're introduced to as "Katie" and forms an instant bond with Alex's daughter. Hesitantly, she begins a friendship with Alex and his family and soon develops into more between the two, Alex mad Katie. This, being the First Lady that Alex has had feelings for since his wife had passed a few years prior.

Meanwhile, the detective that was intensely searching for Katie I'm the beginning of the movie, continues his search vigorously. The questions that kept going through my head at this point were

: How were the police so quickly notified that they were in hot pursuit of Katie? Why is this detective so intense about this case, while seemingly not caring about any other cases? It was evident to me that he was involved with Katie on some spectrum. When he coordinated a wide net in the hopes of catching her, he sent out wanted posters to possible districts. The notice was put up on the police stations board and semi covered up at the same time. In his frustrations toward his failure to find her, he begins to drink alcohol relentlessly. Ultimately, his poor choices and alcoholic tendencies leads to his suspension from the force. This adds fuel to an already furious fire, and he now sets out to find her.

Katie has dreams and memories that she struggles with, through this we learn the truth of what happened and why the detective is searching so intensely for her. When the detective arrives in the town where she has started her new life, the thin thread that was holding his semi-civility together unravels. There is a twist at the end too!

Safe Haven is so nice I watched it twice (excuse my dorkness). It is definitely included in my favorites list. Until next time or the next... dream ~ K.E.Nowinsky