Descente à Paradise

Nicholas Cage, Jon Lovitz and Dana Carvey are "Trapped in Paradise" in this 1994 film also starring Madchen Amick, Donald Moffat and Florence Stanley. Cage plays Bill Firpo, a man desperately trying to distance himself from his jailbird brothers Dave and Alvin (Lovitz and Carvey) and take the high road; unfortunately, overcrowding in the prisons causes the boys to be released early. One of them heard a great story in prison about a bank ripe for the picking. It's too good to pass up, so the three head for Paradise, Pennsylvania to rob the bank, only to find that once they have, they can't get out of town due to the overwhelming hospitality of the townspeople.

This film is very funny, and I admit to loving Nicholas Cage in comedy. It always comes from a real place, making the comedy even funnier. His reactions to his brothers are hilarious. As he puts it, "In the Firpo family, the man with half a brain is king." Florence Stanley is a riot as the boys' mother and is given some great lines like, "You guys are dumber than a box of hair." Lovitz and Carvey are goofy; Carvey's Alvin is a kleptomaniac who doesn't seem completely there, and Lovitz' Dave is a conniver with a mind that goes right to criminal intent at all times. The three make quite a trio.

Good fun. It's not War and Peace, its just light entertainment with some good performances, a funny premise, and some great dialogue. For some reason, it's often hard to get all three.

What we have here is an experiment in no writing, no directing, just gathering some actors together and turning them loose. Many of these have been funny in skits, and each was encouraged to develop their own comic persona. But since these are not very clever comics, we have copies of Harpo, Jonathon Winters, Laurel and Hardy, Lucy and so on. There's nothing original or entertaining here except to watch how strong is the magnetism of the past masters.

Watching Cage flounder is also interesting since there are some who celebrate his talent. I'm coming more and more to appreciate how many different types of actors there are and how widely they differ. Cage as a person always sits nervously in his character. This is no problem if he is cast as a person who sits nervously in himself, and of course this is how he is typed. Sometimes it works, for instance with DePalma's experimental `Snake Eyes,' the disembodied EMT of `Bring out the Dead,' and the pretty sensitive `Raising Arizona.' But when it fails, it fails spectacularly with Cage staring goofily as in that lottery movie, or with shouting as here. Spectacular.

This film is hilarious. I can't believe it has been rated so low. I could submit at least a dozen memorable quotes and I haven't seen this movie in two years. I distinctly remember having to rewind a scene because we were laughing so hard we missed some dialog... if you ever get the chance, go see this movie!! Nicolas Cage is a riot!

This was the funniest movie because I have three older brothers, and I swear that this movie reminded me of them. Simply put, I am befuddled at why everyone says that this is such a boring, dull and drab movie. Do they think the same about ConAir? It had more plot holes than Swiss cheese. Unbelievable. Yet they were both great movies. I also don't get those who say that Thirteen Days was inaccurate. My God, the only thing that the filmmakers didn't have was access to the thoughts of those involved. What more do you want? The thing to remember about films like Trapped and ConAir is that they are fictitious, and the whole point of making movies is to suspend belief and tell a story. It doesn't have to be funny. It doesn't have to sad or make a point or have a morale. It just has to be. This is what separates the boys from the men, and thus separates filmmakers from those with axes to grind and wannabes. You make a film because it means something to you personally, not for commercial value. When people finally figure this out, it will be too late, but at least at that point we will have a better understanding of each other.

What's not to like about this one? It's hilarious! I know he's not the best actor, but this is one of Nicolas Cage's best movies (certainly as far as COMEDY goes, at least). It causes me genuine laughter all the way through. It doesn't contain any corny or dull jokes--quality humor. This is a favorite in my book.