Club Paraíso

I guess I'm an '80's boy because I have so much to remember, high school graduation, college, Navy service etc. etc. Yet it is the movies I remember the most and this is one of them.

It is cute and fun and with some great actors playing, so what if it didn't win any Oscars? Sure it wasn't gut bursting laughs by the minute, rather smiling all through the movie.

No. It is all about the beautiful warm feeling you get, like coming directly from the Caribbean sun itself. Laid back, cool music and a good time.

Pour yourself a drink (Bacardi perhaps?) watch it on a rainy winter evening with some company and you'll have a great time especially if you can remember yourself when you watched it for the first time.

This is a very fun movie starring Robin Williams, the cast is great, it has the whole cast of SCTV, except for John Candy, who should have been in it playing one of Robin Williamw' buddies or something. It's got everyone else though, Eugene Levy, Rick Moranis, Brian Doyle-Murray, Mary Gross(Saturday Night Live), Andrea Martin(AKA Edith Prickley), and Joe Flaherty is hilarious as the crazy unexperienced pilot. This isnt a classic, but it is still great fun. 7 out of 10

This is a very enjoyable film, even if it doesn't always deliver the gut-laughs that you might expect. While I can only give it a six or a seven, I always think of it with a smile; it's definitely just as funny or funnier than the average comedy coming out today.

Part of my affinity for this movie is the cast. Robin Williams, as you would only expect, is his manic self here, a fish-out-of-water ex-Chicago fireman, struggling to open a low rent tourist resort in a banana republic. He's got some funny bits, and his throwaway ad lib's are better than most other actors' scripted lines.

The real bonus, though, is the rest of the cast. Jimmy Cliff, the original reggae superstar, stars as Williams'musician business partner (how's _that_ for authenticity?). Peter O'Toole swills drinks and purses his lips around his extra long cigarette holder,while spitting out his cynical, glib observations regarding the tropical paradise/hellhole.

But some of the funniest moments here are provided by several veterans of SCTV. Andrea Martin plays a pampered wife, most definitely out of her element in Williams' accomodations, while Rick Moranis and Eugene Levy are hilarious playing two slaughterhouse workers trying to score, in more ways than one. Some of the drug humor connected with their characters is every bit as funny as anything Cheech & Chong attempted.

Additionally, Brian Doyle-Murray, Twiggy, and Adolph Caesar round out a very busy cast. The story moves along quickly, the music is great, and the whole thing makes a great accompaniment for your favorite bag of microwave popcorn.

6-7 stars.

Ramis has exceptional talent. The eclectic selection of humorous scenes is well woven.

O'Toole lends a great deal of sophistication to the film. His thought provoking words on government and island life stirred my imagination.

Williams seems to have been at his comical best early in his career.

Moranis proves himself to be a true oddball.

Certainly, this is a picture you should not miss seeing.

Before Robin Williams solidly established himself as a star in "Good Morning, Vietnam", he starred in several innocuously silly movies such as "Club Paradise". He plays Jack Moniker, a Chicago firefighter who retires and moves to the Caribbean island of St. Nicholas. There, he joins up with tour guide Ernest Reed (Jimmy Cliff) and the two of them open a wild business, with the help of Gov. Anthony Cloyden Hayes (Peter O'Toole). Once the rich American tourists start arriving, the high finks take off.

The movie is mostly an excuse for a bunch of goofy things to happen, especially when the characters played by Eugene Levy and Rick Moranis embarrass themselves. True, Williams did better with some of his later work, but "Club Paradise" is still pretty funny.