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In 2007, stripper turned screenwriter Diablo Cody took Hollywood by storm with her Oscar-winning screenplay for Juno. Since then, her screenwriting projects have had their share of good moments (like 2011’s Young Adult) and bad (like 2010’s Jennifer’s Body). But one thing was certain: they were never dull—until now.
Cody’s directorial debut, Paradise, stars Julianne Hough as Lamb Mannerheim, a sweet and innocent girl who grew up in a conservative small town in Montana, where church attendance is mandatory and girls who cut their hair short or choose to wear pants are shunned for their loose morals. Lamb was the perfect picture of peace and serenity until a year ago, when a plane crash left her covered in scar tissue and questioning her faith.
After standing up in front of her church and denying God, Lamb heads straight for Las Vegas, intending to try every imaginable sin on for size—with help from a friendly bartender (Russell Brand) and his lounge singer friend (Octavia Spencer). But she soon learns that sinning isn’t as fun as she thought it would be.
Diablo Cody is known for her quick wit and her snappy hipster dialogue—but, unfortunately, very little of her signature style comes through in Paradise. Every once in a while, a witty line or two will remind you that the screenplay was written by the former Hollywood hotshot, but the rest of the film is surprisingly bland.
You might expect the story of a good girl turned bad in Las Vegas to be wild and crazy and full of naughtiness. But, as it turns out, Lamb just isn’t very good at being bad—and, outside of a few brief scenes involving dance clubs and peach schnapps, there’s not much to her intended rebellion, which often makes the film feel painfully dry and dreary.
Meanwhile, if you’ve seen Rock of Ages, you’ve already seen Julianne Hough play the excessively naive small-town girl. The character is just another walking, talking, doe-eyed cliché—and Hough’s performance this time around doesn’t give the role any more charm or believability than before.
In the end, however, there is a point to Lamb’s ill-advised adventures. There’s a rather thoughtful message about how every one of us is struggling with our own hurts and old scars. And Lamb eventually comes to the realization that it’s possible to live in the in-between—somewhere between the conservative little town where she was raised and the up-all-night attitude of Las Vegas. But while the attempt to give the film a moral is commendable, it comes off feeling like a sappy Lifetime movie of the week. And even Russell Brand—as adorably amusing as he may be—can’t give the film the oomph that it so desperately needs.
Though it seems to promise outrageous comedy, clever writing, and plenty of wild Las Vegas adventures, there’s nothing heavenly about Paradise. It appears that the added responsibilities of directing the film were just too much for Cody to handle—and, as a result, instead of making a quirky film that’s undeniably her own, she ended up making a tedious and surprisingly preachy film that’s heavy-handed and light on personality.
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