Paradise *** (1991, Melanie Griffith, Don Johnson, Elijah Wood, Thora Birch) – Classic Movie Review 12,702

The young Don Johnson,

The 1991 American film Paradise is a tasteful, warm-hearted remake of the French success Le Grand Chemin (1987), this time starring then real-life married couple Melanie Griffith and Don Johnson.

Writer/ director Mary Agnes Donoghue’s 1991 film Paradise is a tasteful, warm-hearted American remake of the French success Le Grand Chemin (1987), this time starring then real-life married couple Melanie Griffith and Don Johnson, whose on-screen film marriage is severely rocked by the death of their child, but who learn to love again while taking care of a friend’s child in Paradise, Michigan.

Confident and excellent though 10-year-old Elijah Wood is as the boy, he is upstaged by tomboyish Thora Birch, the 8-year-old girl who teaches him how to come alive.

Full of wistful nostalgia, this is a rewarding and appealing little film. It is intriguing to see stars Griffith and Johnson in support roles in their own movie and bravely trying something outside their usual range.

It is based on the novel and film Le Grand Chemin by Jean-Loup Hubert.

Also in the cast are Sheila McCarthy, Eve Gordon, Louise Latham, Greg Davis, Sarah Trigger, Richard K Olsen, Rick Andosca, Anthony Romano, and Timothy Erskine.

© Derek Winnert 2023 – Classic Movie Review 12,702

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