Starring: Julianne Hough, Russell Brand, Octavia Spencer
Director: Diablo Cody
After gaining prominence as a writer with a string of credits to her name most notably Juno and Young Adult. Diablo Cody has decided to helm her first feature. The conservative Christian girl goes to Las Vegas film Paradise.
It’s a mixed bag of success for Cody starting off with promise before falling a bit flat. The bland and vanilla Julianne Hough who is almost completely devoid of any form of personality or uniqueness is surprisingly well cast even if she lacks the presence to head a film , as Lamb a young woman who is severely burned (everywhere but her face) from surviving a plane crash that took the life of her fiance. We catch up with Lamb when she is about to give a speech at her church but rather than deliver the god heals, Jesusy speech that her close knit conservative church goers expect, she relinquishes her faith proclaiming god doesn’t exist and in a line that in Cody’s head she surely thought was funny, shouts that she might even vote democrat.
Lamb decides in her ultimate act of rebellion to head to Satan’s playground Las Vegas. She quickly finds herself at the Hi-Lo bar where she meets bartender William (Russell Brand, who is apparently the English Robin Williams playing hyper annoying unfunny characters half the time, yet is clearly capable of a more subdued person of depth. This is the subdued less manic and tolerable Brand) and Singer Loray (Octavia Spencer). Together they head out on the town while Lamb gets to knock some items off her sinners list.
The dialogue is standard Diablo Cody, the first half is sharply written when Lamb first experiences the novelty of Vegas though this quickly wears out its welcome. At one point Lamb hangs out in the bathroom of the hottest club in town with a call girl she saw on a flyer walking the strip, the preposterous coincidence of this encounter is even commented on as though the film itself knows the idea doesn’t work. Ultimately the forced happy ending dooms Paradise, when Lamb starts handing out money,what once was a promising premise solidifies itself as a sappy episode of televisions secret millionaire.
Cody has potential as more than a screenwriter yet this dramedy lacks the promise and bite of her earlier work.
Grade -69
