Nudi in paradiso

A Night In Heaven rates right up there as one of the trashiest films ever made. But Christopher Atkins is so goldarn sexy in this I have to say that this film is a guilty pleasure of mine.

The Blue Lagoon Boy with no curls any longer plays a trailer park kid who is the main attraction at a male strip club named Heaven located in Titusville near Cape Canaveral. He's also going to community college where Professor Lesley Anne Warren flunks him in her Speech class. At the same time Warren is not getting any attention from husband Robert Logan and she's frustrated.

On a girl's night out, she takes one look at Atkins and Atkins sees the look Warren is giving him and the results are inevitable. I think you can figure where this is going, it doesn't take a genius. But the climax I will say rates high in the ludicrous cinema department.

Interestingly enough while Christopher Atkins won the Razzie Award for worst actor, A Night In Heaven wasn't nominated for Worst Picture. It was probably unfair to Chris since all he was asked to do was look sexy and be seductive. He succeeded admirably on both counts. I suppose the Razzies are as inscrutable as the Oscars.

But if your taste runs to trashy movies, don't let this one get by.

I rented this movie as a total goof with a friend about a year after it came out, expecting it to be as cheesy and pathetic as the trailer. This is not great cinema by any means. But some actual thought went into the making of this and it was a lot better than I ever anticipated. In fact, back in the day, Siskel and Ebert actually gave this two thumbs up, for the chemistry between Lesley Ann Warren and Christopher Atkins. It has been said that he was so into his character that after the filming it took him a long time to get over his costar. Lesley Ann Warren's shocked expressions are priceless. The great Bryan Adams songs are relevant; not just tacked on because they are cool and will sell soundtracks. This is not a movie you would ever want to admit aloud that you like. But you may be surprised to find that you're secretly admitting it to yourself.

It just cracks me right up when people mention "A Night in Heaven" and the word "plot" in the same sentence. Yeeping yimminy, take a look at the box cover! All they ever promised us was Chris Atkins in his Xanadu disco-slut-wear, pulsating and gyrating and waving his goodies at the camera. A male nudie flick. That's what they promised us, and that's what we got!

Mr. Blue Lagoon prances about the entire movie wearing nothing more than a cheap self-tanner and dental floss. The direction is nothing more than an endless string of tight close-up shots of Mr. Atkins' generously lathered nether-regions. Pure smut. That's what they promised us, and that's what we got!

Word of caution: This flick is where that "Obsession" song came from ("I will have you, yes I will have you..wah wah wah...") It's not the Animotion version either, it's, gasp ...even worse. It sounds like it was recorded at one of those amusement park "You be a Star!" karaoke-style "recording studios". Shudder.

But that's irrelevant. As is the acting, the cinematography, the editing, the lighting and most of all Lesley Ann Warren. "A Night in Heaven" is all about an oiled-down Atkins, a few clutzy dance moves, and a skimpy boy-toy thong. That's what they promised us, and that's what we got.

Yay them!

I know that in no means I'm trashing eighties movies. I grew up on eighty movies, and I have seen a lot of trash and a lot of superb films. When I think of A Night In Heaven, I think of Sixteen Candles, The Breakfast Club, Weird Science, even that flunky movie Johnny Depp did with Morrow....Private Resort or something like that! I would depict this movie and dissect it with criticism, but I can't because I actually enjoyed this movie. What separates this movie from others that were in the eighties junkyard is that this actually had a convincing plot. Yes, I think Lesley Anne Warren is sexy, no I don't think Christopher Atkins is a heartthrob and I don't see what the big deal about him was, considering he is just that star that appeared with Brooke Shields in The Blue Lagoon.

What I like about this movie is that it doesn't play out as your ordinary dumb film like most eighties movies. You don't see anyone you think is from Revenge Of The Nerds or Just One Of The Guys(which I must confess I liked also), there's not much stupidity, no brain cells should be damaged in the process of watching this and one of my favorite scenes is actually in the beginning with Logan on the funky bike while Bryan Adams sings the theme song...after that I figured I was in for a 80 minute treat that I consider a very underrated, tarnished, bashed movie that didn't make the grade for reasons I believe just had that quality of being toooooo eighties!!! I recommend A Night In Heaven for it's chemistry between Lesley and Christopher and for something that's not monotonous and filled with low humor and bad acting, I recommend it also for how poignant love is between this teacher and her student and by the way who said she passed him just because she made love to him?

Oh and by the way you will love the ending which is another ingredient to the mix of this very, very underrated movie!!!

With a direction from John G. Avildsen ("Rocky") and a screenplay by Joan Tewkesbury ("Thieves Like Us", "Nashville"), one might expect more from this turgid drama about a married community-college teacher who discovers to her embarrassment that a male stripper she sees one night in a dance-club is actually one of her students. Lesley Ann Warren does what she can with a nearly unplayable role, but even her personal style can't dress up this flick with much class. The poorly-produced and edited film has become something of a cult item--mainly due to Christopher Atkins' nude shots--but the script and surrounding melodrama are inept and unfulfilling. * from ****