Review of Trapped in Paradise (1994) by Josh G — 25 Jun 2009

Blah, blah, blah. Sometimes, seriously, sometimes I feel like I don't really have anything new to say at all. All the bases have been covered by people who saw these movies before me, and all I can do is reiterate their points. The points for Trapped in Paradise go something like this:

1. It's not very good.

2. It's not funny.

3. Dana Carvey and Jon Lovitz don't really help much.

That's about all there is to say; that's about all I want to say. The movie's plot can be summed up in two words... wacky misadventures. Bill (Cage) is conned by his two brothers into joining them in a bank heist in the all too trusting town of Paradise, Pennsylvania. Of course, something goes wrong (the bank manager has the keys to the vault, and he's out to lunch), and the boys' attempt at correcting that problem leads to a new problem, and another and another and so on until what was supposed to be a simple bank robbery has turned into a convoluted series of misunderstandings and mistaken identities. How hilarious!

Actually, not so much. Refer to number three above. As much a fan of Nicolas Cage as I am, he doesn't really seem to be having a lot of fun here either. In fact, the person who steals the show happens to be Richard Jenkins (Step Brothers, Me Myself & Irene), as an FBI agent annoyed at having to sort out the mess that has been created on Christmas Eve. I don't really understand the way that movie cops are always so frustrated at having to do their jobs on holidays, usually Christmas. It's not like they weren't aware when they took the job that they would occasionally have to work holidays - so why act like it's such a big shock and inconvenience?

Regardless, where everybody else is played for a broadly comic role or else a sentimentally trite one, Jenkins seems to be playing the only truly human character around. His growing confusion and frustration is the best part of the film.

But, you know, whatever. Jenkins isn't really a main character, and so we're left with Lovitz and Carvey and the listless Cage. I think the introduction scene of Lovitz and Carvey's characters, wherein one is pretending to be a pterodactyl and the other is speaking with a weird affection that wasn't even that endearing when Cage himself did it for Peggy Sue Got Married, that scene alone can pretty much sum up what those two actors don't have to offer.

Then the plot, despite the characters' repeating the word shit a lot to garner a PG-13 rating, is pretty much just sleepy sentimentality, where the goofy criminals come to understand that stealing money from one-dimensionally good-hearted citizens is a naughty thing to do. Good thing that they learned their lesson in time for Christmas!

1. 2. 3.

That's all there is to say.