Club Paradise
This 1986 comedy, a reunion of the director and writer of the Immortal Classic Caddyshack, can best be chalked up as a monumental failure, a project with a promising cast and premise, that bombs mostly because itâs just not funny at all. This viewer counted maybe 4 separate occasions during the movie that he actually laughed, and for a 95-minute film, thatâs pretty sparse. Robin Williams stars as a Chicago fireman injured on the job who takes a big disability settlement and retires down to a tropical island called St. Nicholas, where he decides to go into business by opening up a beachfront resort hotel and attract tourists to have fun in the sun. Williams, so hyperactively funny in many of his 80s outings, seems to have taken a Valium here, since his character for the most part is pretty reserved, coming out with the occasional wisecrack but mostly coming off as bland and boring without the slightest bit of manic energy especially when the story calls for it. The real disappointment lies with what should have been a stellar supporting cast (including a number of SCTV stars and a couple of SNL never-weres) of supposedly âzanyâ characters: Peter OâToole as the âBritish Representativeâ of the island mumbles most of his dialogue and doesnât really seem to want to be there; Rick Moranis and Eugene Levy as a couple of losers (both named Barry) looking to score both chicks and weed have their schtick get old really fast, with drug humor that wouldnât get a sniff from hardcore Cheech and Chong fans; Former British model Twiggy is like a pretty female cardboard cutout as Williamsâ love interest; Oscar Nominee Adolph Caesar (in his last role) huffs and puffs and overacts greatly as the dictator that controls the islandâs government; Joanna Cassidy as a tourism critic who visits the island would seem to represent an interesting subplot, but soon is introduced to the OâToole character and five minutes later the two of them are in love; Andrea Martin and Steven Kampmann as an estranged couple on vacation to rekindle their marriage strike out on one comic opportunity after another; Brian Doyle-Murray (also the writer) gets a couple of good lines as the wealthy hotel owner who wants to develop the island; Joe Flaherty as the âwackyâ charter pilot who flies guests to the island seems to think that a lot of yelling for his character equals good comedy; and Robin Duke and Mary Gross (the aforementioned SNL cast members that saw their movie careers die quick deaths) as a couple of loser chicks on vacation bring no spark at all. The one exception in the lineup is reggae superstar Jimmy Cliff as the reggae singer / island native who partners with Williams to open the resort, seemingly in his element and also contributing a rousing reggae soundtrack to the film thatâs fun to listen to (best thing about the movie). The film tries and fails to be an allegory of the political state that the world was in during the 80s, and the script even has Williams try to liken the idea of a revolution breaking out on the island as something that could lead to world-wide nuclear war(!), plus it brings in that old standby 80s stereotype of the rich Arab investor that wants to build the island into a real tropical resort who is obviously evil and needs to be stopped. Overall, an incredible letdown from the legendary comedy director Harold RamisâŚ
4/10