Encurralados no Paraíso

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 movie is quite funny, you don't have to be a fan of Dana carvey or anything too. It was a good story and has funny plots throughout the movie as well. The guy who reviewed this before is wrong and is a typical this movie sucks that movie sucks critic. Jon Lovitz, Nicholas Cage, and Dana Carvey, are all hilarious in this flick and also just did a great job acting. These were the good Ole days and not the new days where its just stupid fart humor, and no class with the comedy, just sick and gross things. This had cache and goes down as a very funny movie. Go rent or buy it , its cheap and worth the cash spent. Toodles

Although I haven't seen it in a while, what I remember of Trapped in Paradise was a whole lot of laughs. It's got a great cast, great plot (simple but fun) and a whole lot more. See Trapped in Paradise and I'm sure you'll have a fun time! 3/5 stars--

JOHN ULMER