Paradise Grove

An entertaining and thought-provoking film, its dark humour is the antithesis of politically correct mainstream Hollywood movies. All the characters are distinctive in their own quirky way, but Leyland O'Brien gives a particularly eye-catching performance as a confused but determined teenager. The dramatic denouement is unexpected and effective.

After seeing this film I have to revise my understanding of the word 'comedy'. A good warning sign is any film that describes itself as 'quirky' or 'dark' and sure enough, Paradise Grove is neither of these. It assumes that to make a film jewish only requires that a character has to say schmuck and schwartzer a few times.

Paradise Grove is totally devoid of anything resembling humour, the script sounds like it was made up ten minutes before shooting started and some plot devices look like they were bolted on from a completely different film. Some of the shots would make a first year film student proud. Rula Lenska shows talent by managing to pull off a passable appearance given the dire lack of material she is given to work with, but Ron Moody looks as though he only turned up to collect the pay cheque and Lee Blakemore as Kim makes Metal Mickey look like Lawrence Olivier.

Ultimately this is probably one of the worst films I have had the agony to watch. By the end I almost felt embarrassed and was certainly intrigued as to how a film like this managed to get funded. Maybe it is an educational tool to show how not to make films.

Do not expect to see at a cinema near you...ever!!!

I was pleasantly surprised by this film...it sounded like it could have been really lame. The acting is well-done, especially Ron Moody as Izzie, the cranky, soon-to-be octogenarian, former lingerie salesman who just wants someone to put him out of his misery. This results in humorous scene in which Keith has hired an "actress" to model some lingerie for him, as birthday present and/or "one last kick at the can". When others read to him in bed, his preference is a lingerie mail-order catalogue. Cliched, but still amusing. For Izzie, the last indignity is having to wear "nappies", and the issue of euthanasia is a sub-plot throughout.

Most of the story centers around Izzie, his near-alcoholic daughter Dee, who runs the old-folks home, and her half-black son Keith, who she claims could have been a doctor, lawyer, or rock-star, but instead prefers his "career" assisting in the running of the home.

The only part of the film which felt undeveloped and "tacked-on" was the relationship between run-away Kim and her father, who seems to be a hit-man.

Comedy...film noir...drama...I came out of the Premiere in London into the sunshine of a Sunday afternoon in May with a sense of deep pleasure mixed with an uneasy feeling that this film needed to be made. And it was well made...serious enough but not too much to make you uncomfortable...Affectionate enough to make you forget the underlying sadness you encounter in some of these old people's homes...Yet a comic bitter taste of what we all may fear one way or the other, but we push out of our mind. Life stopped here...yet life also went on... I laughed and I smiled, I shivered and felt sad.. So? isn't that what it is all about? So above all this film was real, but in a gentle comical yet direct way! Do we not all fear to get the giggles at funerals? We were here given permission to smile at one of the most fundamentally serious and dramatic situation we will encounter...old age, euthanasia, abandonment. Just as well the sun was shining that day!!! :o) thank you Charles! and all the cast.

This is a down-to-earth film. There are no lasers, no aliens, no explosions, no spectacular car chases or gunfights. In short it is not Hollywood. Sorry...that's the truth.

What it does have is a distinct lack of patronisation, cute kids, sensationalism and other such ingredients we are force-fed by today's film makers. The characters are real people in real life situations and that is rare in the cinema.

OK, so onto the film; I enjoyed the humour level (dark at times, but always with a grip on reality) and the characters were no different to people one might know. It is set in a Jewish retirement home in North London with the main character, Izzie Goldberg as an aging grandfather to a mixed-race Jewish grandson. Izzie is on his last legs while Keith Perry (the grandson) is waking up to life. The film mainly focuses on these two and their relationship with each other and their families and colleagues around them. The film is moving in a deep familial way, dealing with life and death and how it effects others.

I'm no film critic or writer so I will wrap up there before I get myself into trouble. I'll leave with one parting shot...look out for the Richard Gere in American Gigilo scene. I don't know if it was intentional, but it brought out my movie-buff smile!