Listonixio Fresh and Exciting

Onlinewsma Absolutely Brilliant!

TrueHello Fun premise, good actors, bad writing. This film seemed to have potential at the beginning but it quickly devolves into a trite action film. Ultimately it's very boring.

Invaderbank The film creates a perfect balance between action and depth of basic needs, in the midst of an infertile atmosphere.

happycatpaws My first impression was to despise the movie, thinking it was going to extoll the corruption of a young girl raised conservatively to embrace the sordid prevalent "values" of modern society (generally promoted by mass media in most movies, TV shows and video games today, but I changed my opinion. The characters in the movie show her out of place and different than those she encounters in her journey, but the contrast is that her naivety is refreshing and almost envious. Being sheltered in life may leave one innocent but also protected from many scars and bad life experiences that most people encounter and from foolish behaviors that are deemed socially acceptable today. Refreshingly, it actually was a thoughtful movie, and will make people think about their own values. I liked it!

in1984 3.9 of 10. No excuses for Diablo Cody with this film. She wrote and directed. Despite doing both, she once again shows she has only a grasp of satire the way a virgin has a grasp of sex. It's an improvement upon the Juno mess, but not much.Cody seems to have a strength in ideas and setting up gags, but really needs help from a more expert story teller/director so her stories are something more than artificially prolonged Saturday Night Live gags. As others have pointed out, it starts strong, much like Juno, then Diablo's lack of depth, knowledge, and creativity becomes exposed and turns the film into melodramatic tedium that only someone stuck in a hospital burn unit could enjoy.

Slasher_Lover23 After surviving a plane crash that left her with major burns, Lamb (Julianne Hough) begins to question her faith and life. She then flees religious community and goes to Las Vegas in hopes to find herself and live the life she was warned about back home. It is there that she meets William (Russell Brand) and Loray (Octavia Spencer) who teach Lamb the way of life in Vegas, but she also teaches them life lessons of her own. Diablo Cody, the director of Juno and Young Adult is back with a new film that clearly shows her touch. Paradise is a film with as much charm and heart as her previous films. It's a film that speaks to youth about the bigger world around us and how there is so much out there for them to experience. The film features some humorous moments as we watch our protagonist experience all of these new events for the first time as well as her encounters with the people she comes across. The film's meaning stays ever-present throughout until our lead comes to the realization herself. However, there are instances where the film tends to over-preach and draws the viewer out. But it doesn't take away a lot from the story.The film is also backed by some very well-done performances by it's cast. Julianne Hough shines as the naive and innocent Lamb. Hough does an excellent job of bringing these qualities out through her facial expressions and her line delivery. And in the moments when Lamb hits her emotional patches we actually find ourselves caring. Russell Brand and Octavia Spencer provide a lot of the comic relief as Lamb's newfound friends William and Loray. Here we actually see a different side of Brand along with his comedic side as his character becomes compassionate for Lamb during her times of doubt. Spencer becomes the moralistic friend for Lamb when she feels she is getting in too deep, but also has her moments of comedy and sarcasm.Although the film can get very preachy, it has the right amount of comedy, heart, and charm too keep the viewer engaged, along with it's talented cast and professional direction.My Rating: 8/10

Tony Heck "Let the sin begin." Lamb Mannerheim (Hough) is a young woman who is very religious and has everything going for her. After a plane crash leaves her scarred on 75% of her body she begins to question everything. One day she can't take it anymore and refutes the existence of God in front of her church. She then sets off to find her own way and have her own experiences and what better place to do that then Las Vegas where she meets an angry lounge singer and a friendly bartender (Brand). Before watching this one I did something I don't normally do, I watched the trailer for it. The trailer made me laugh and I was looking forward to it even though I'm not a Russell Brand fan. This movie is an example of why I don't watch trailers. While I did like the movie and I am glad I watched it, it wasn't really what I would call a laugh-out-loud comedy. This is from the writer of Juno and the comedy is more that style. This is almost a bi-polar movie. One minute you are laughing and smiling the next you are crying and depressed. This is good but be prepared for that. Overall, a good movie that is worth watching but be prepared for the roller coaster. I give it a B.