The Last Days of Paradise

I was a junior in high school in 1965. This movie brought back so many wonderful memories of that time. I saw this movie for the first time this year (2003) on HBO. As soon as the movie concluded, I went to Amazon.Com and ordered the DVD of this movie. I loved the entire movie. The music was great and the story was good with wonderful characters. I actually 'knew' some of those folks way back in 1965. I was one of them myself. I will watch this DVD many times and I am sure to enjoy it each time. I do think you needed to be high school age in 1965 to TRULY enjoy and appreciate this movie!!

I try not to comment on films that have so little merit, but this one caught my attention. There were many enthusiastic comments, but the overall rating was low, though not low enough.

This is a facile, one-dimensional music video about the 1960's. It would be hard to gather from this lighter than air treatment that those issues made the 60's the most important decade of the 20th century. Oh, there's Watts, Berkeley and Viet Nam stirred together in a sickly sweet soufflé', but it was a waste to film this movie in color, since everything comes off so black and white. The teachers, representing the Establishment, are all stupid and wicked. The students are all on their way to Harvard or Princeton, to underscore how much smarter they are than everyone else. And everyone proceeds in a straight line toward their destiny, without any of the internal conflict that makes for good fiction.

Dermot Mulroney is pitifully wasted as Pirate, the Free Spirit. Noah Wyle shows the promise of one day rising to mediocrity, with a lot of hard work. And poor little Rickey, or Rick, or Rikki or whatever it is now Shroder. Maybe one day he'll be Richard, fulfilling his potential of becoming as bad an actor in adulthood as he was in childhood. The only thing that made this movie bearable was the great soundtrack provided by rock DJ The Beard, serving as a sort of Greek Chorus to keep this limp litany pumped up as much as possible.

If you want a good movie about this era, dust off American Graffiti. If you want a lighter look, you'd probably like Hairspray or Shag. Unless you were in this stinker and wanted to show off to your friends, and even then I'd think twice, don't waste your time on this one.

i love this movie for many reasons....but one of the major reasons,is it gives 2 character actors a chance to play opposite there usual bad guy/heavy personas. actor paul gleason,known primarily,as the asshole principal in 'the breakfast club' and the slithery badguy,clarence beeks,in the eddie murphy/dan ackroyd comedy 'trading places',plays one of the girls parents in the film 'there goes my baby',as a meloncholic tender father figure. whereas,actor j.e. freeman,better known as the homicidal homosexual hit-man,'the dane' in the coen brothers,'millers crossing' and the volatile dangerous,'marcelus santos'[sp?],in David lynch's 'wild at heart',played in 'there goes my baby',ricky scroeder's thoughtful compassionette working class father. p.s. to whoever said,that 'there goes my baby' was a 1965 song,they were wrong,it was a 1959 song by 'the drifters'. sincerely and without to much pomposity i hope,the surly greaser.

Although it might not seem, it's a picture of what happens, at least once, in our lives... As the countdown begins for the demolition of Pop's Paradise, great friends get closer and closer to separation, as they will start heading for their own lives, following their "objectives", their dreams, after finishing high school. It all happens in the mid 60s, among social and political tension, which characterized the problems in the U.S.A. during those times. Full of spirit, it will show you courage, friend and leadership, and make you feel somehow nostalgic. The soundtrack couldn't be better, as it gathers some of the greatest hits of that decade, like The Drifters or Beach Boys.

It's the summer of 1965 in Los Angeles. And a group of photogenic high school students contemplate their lives and their futures in this nostalgia flick aimed mostly at baby boomers. Teenage angst, emotional turmoil, and general confusion comprise the fuel for a plot that centers largely around a colorful burger joint called "Pops Paradise".

Hollywood has been down this cinematic road before, many times. The screenplay here is conventional. Characters tend toward stereotypes. The kids are idealistic; the school principal is unrealistically belligerent and unsympathetic; and Pops has the requisite cool jiving disc jockey. The script's dialogue is fairly poor in that there is very little subtext.

Even so, the film has terrific 1960's production design. One of the main characters drives a black 1957 Chevy, the vehicle icon of that era. And, many scenes occur at Pops wherein a parade of old cars slowly encircles the front entrance. Clothes and hairstyles are typical for that era. Overall quality of acting for the ensemble cast is acceptable. Kelli Williams, in particular, gives a nice performance as a budding flower child.

Arguably, the best element of the film is the rock'n roll music. "One Fine Day", "California Dreaming", "Mama Said", "Barbara Ann", "Loco-Motion", and The Diamonds' "Little Darlin" are among the great songs, together with the title song by The Drifters.

Although the film's screenplay is sub-par, elaborate production design and some great oldies but goodies give "There Goes My Baby" great 60's atmosphere and the realistic feel of a turbulent era that now seems far off and illusory, in retrospect.