Another Day in Paradise

'Kids' director Larry Clark really comes up trumps with this fine story of crime, addiction and surrogate families. Relative unknown Vincent Kartheiser, and the up and coming Natasha Gregson Wagner ('Lost Highway', 'Two Girls and a Guy') are fine as the young wanna be thieves, but the real stars of the show are their mentors' played by James Woods and Melanie Griffith.

Griffith is often ridiculed for her flakiness, but should be applauded for taking riskier, more challenging material such as this and John Waters' 'Cecil B. DeMented'. Woods is a ridiculously underrated actor, and along with the equally underestimated James Caan, is rivaling the much more celebrated De Niro and Pacino as best American actors of their generation in my opinion. Woods is simply sensational as the motor mouth Mel, a complex and unpredictable character. His performance here ranks with 'Videodrome', 'Cop' and 'The Boost' as one of his most memorable.

Forget the spurious 'Kalifornia', 'Drugstore Cowboy' and 'True Romance' comparisons. They are all great movies, but this is no rehash or rip off. It's a fantastic movie in its own right. Don't miss this one!

Read it here: http://squeerelist.blogspot.com/2013/06/another-day-in- paradise-1998.html

This Larry Clark drama dives you into the miserable life of junkie Bobbie. After a minor vending-machine robbery gone bad, Bobbie gets fixed up by the infamous thief Mel. The latter decides to hire the kid to nail one last deal that should set them up for life. Mel and his girlfriend Sid become the mentors of Bobbie and his girlfriend Rosie. Neither the characters nor the audience escape unhurt from this funky adventure. Another Day In Paradise is an ironic title for a movie fueled with violence, abuse, and misery. The frantic angles and camera movements used by Clark perfectly depict this atmosphere. The somewhat cheerful R'n'B soundtrack sweetens the painful road trip of our 'heroes' and contrasts with the pitiful path they've chosen. I follow those basket cases taking desperate measures with a certain sorrow but never do I root for them as they've buried themselves in this mess of a situation. This film is an efficient tale on how drugs can make you reach a point of no return and how everything from there is a downhill race to a filthy abyss. Another Day in Paradise seems so real, it makes me feel uneasy and almost sick. I would not recommend it if you don't feel alright because it will mess you up. Vincent Kartheiser in the lead role faultlessly pierces the screen with such a seedy and sore character. The sordid sexuality of our teenagers is only matched by the destructive relationship between James Woods (Mel) and Melanie Griffith (Sid). Woods as the manifest unstable and alcoholic crime king delivers an irreproachable interpretation. Another Day In Paradise is one of these movies that makes you feel glad your only drug consumption is your daily 3-cup-o'-joe intake and your occasional carbs overload.

1 reason to watch: it makes you feel good about yourself . It also makes you want to never do drugs. And never have sex again (this one might not be a valuable reason).

This one worked for me. The superb acting and fine camera work made this very believable. The scenes are some of the most realistic I've seen. Particularly noteworthy are the scenes involving extreme tension.

Throughout the picture I felt an urging to like these characters, sensing that they were, deep down, decent people who somehow got wrapped up in this type of life.

I'm not generally a fan of Griffith, but this role suits her well and her acting is top-notch. Woods is almost always exceptional, and his work here is no exception. The younger stars also perform quite well with this challenging, emotional material. And I thought the acting of the minor characters was excellent, suggesting the director had his act together on this one.

You have to acclimate to the language and level of tension early on or the movie will drive you nuts. But if you do, it begins to involve you deeply in the characters' situations and lives.

This is one of the most disturbing, pessimistic, and overall depressing films I've ever seen -- naturally I loved it. It affected me powerfully. The camera work/artistic shot set-ups, along with the dark color quality set the tone for the whole movie. Not at all like the unappetizing "Kids," director Larry Clark's first feature, this movie is constantly shocking, but not just for the sake of shock value. It's unashamedly graphic in a way that most contemporary films avoid, making it cuttingly real. It also stands apart from most big heist movies, because it is character- rather than plot-driven.

James Woods is fantastic as always, and even Melanie Griffith (not one of my faves) is very well cast. The young Vincent Kartheiser, however, as a teen runaway turned junkie/petty criminal, steals the show. The camera loves him, and his adolescent volatility is painfully believable. I wasn't as much of a fan of Natasha Gregson Wagner, as Kartheiser's girlfriend, but even she surprised me with her dramatic final sequence.

WARNING: this movie is not for the faint of heart. I am personally a fan of anything that breaks new ground, or that defies convention. This film does both. But it is extremely graphic.

Another film of the drug/gangster sub-genre, ANOTHER DAY IN PARADISE is upper echelon material as far as these pictures go. It is also a sibling to DRUGSTORE COWBOY unintentionally. There are so many similarities because it is impossible to make this type of movie nowadays without being repetitive. No matter. Director Larry Clarke (KIDS, ew!) and main booster James Woods himself dive into that disgusting and sometimes frantically hilarious world of sex, drugs, and driving around. The film works because there are some good characterizations here and people who actually show some concern for each other throughout the haze of it all.

Melanie Griffith plays "Sid", James Woods' girlfriend in the story and delivers some of the finest moments of her career. Not since WORKING GIRL have I seen such a likeable and ballsy portrayal from Griffith, who is a junkie with a knack for mothering the 2 teen runaways and a potent trigger finger when one is needed. The runaways are the children Woods and Griffith parent vicariously through in the most unusual of ways. The kids (Vincent Kartheiser, Natasha Wagner) are a version of Bonnie and Clyde, while the adults resemble a warped Ozzie and Harriett. It all adds up to a group of 4 remembering DRUGSTORE COWBOY. This crew needs drugs and they get them by stealing from pharmacists just as Matt Dillon's crew did.

The setting is the early 1970's I guess, and the music reflects the period well. Funk and blues reign over the film's violent and illegal activities while adding a sense of romance to it. You get that feeling in your heart that it won't last (a la BONNIE AND CLYDE, DRUGSTORE COWBOY). Woods character starts out cynical and wise to the "life", but turns ugly as you figure him to do. The young kids who looked up to him throughout grow tired naturally, but his reluctance to grow old possesses him to keep them around. This is where Melanie Griffith is able to shine. She is a sweet, attractive woman who happens to stick needles in her neck. Nobody's perfect.

James Woods was born to play the creep. He has some great lines in ANOTHER DAY IN PARADISE. His stories are funny, his trademarks are constant (booyah!), and his fits are worth the price of admission. He is so good at coming across initially confident, eventually desperate and evil. Woods must have had much faith in director Clarke's abilities and the casting of Natalie Wood's daughter, Natasha is a nice, offbeat touch. This is low-budget, nasty fare, a descendant of the countless druggie flicks of the 70's, 80's and PULP FICTION. It is sometimes amazing to see how low actors will go to capture this wild world of fun and drugs in the dark.

RATING: ***