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Club Paradise (1986) More at IMDbPro »

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29 comments in total

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6 out of 7 people found the following comment useful :-
Mindless Fun, 20 July 2004

Author: dbborroughs from Glen Cove, New York

You'll either fall in love with this film or you won't.

The story of an injured NYC fireman who goes to the tropics and becomes involved with a hotel, Twiggy and local politics is a film played strictly for laughs. The humor is very broad and often not very clever but if you can go with its good natured attitude you'll have a good time.

The cast of Robin Williams, Jimmy Cliff, Twiggy and several escapees from SCTV is up to the task of being Silly. Peter O'Toole is even better than the rest as the world weary British Envoy to the island who wants nothing more than to be allowed to drink.

For me this film is a perfect ten on the enjoyment scale. For everyone else I think you'll find it around a seven or eight.

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4 out of 4 people found the following comment useful :-
Fun Comedy, 31 March 2005

Author: djbowyer from United States

Many comedies require their own set of rating considerations. Club Paradise is one of those. This slips into the "guilty of mindless fun" category. The movie does not stand on a strong story. The charm is in its Carribbean setting, the mostly reggae soundtrack, Jimmy Cliff's character and Robin Williams' character--while we're at it throw Peter O'toole in their too. Charm, charm, charm. The writing is borderline offensive, that is, if you watch the film with a highly critical mind. One might complain that dangerously negative stereotypes abound in this film. Maybe they do. My suggestion is to enjoy the popcorn and let the laughter roll. You can feel guilty later. Fun stuff.

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2 out of 3 people found the following comment useful :-
An enjoyable rental, if not a Great Movie, 11 December 2002
Author: Bill Perkins (wperkins@onramp.net) from Austin, TX

This is a very enjoyable film, even if it doesn't always deliver the gut-laughs that you might expect. While I can only give it a six or a seven, I always think of it with a smile; it's definitely just as funny or funnier than the average comedy coming out today.

Part of my affinity for this movie is the cast. Robin Williams, as you would only expect, is his manic self here, a fish-out-of-water ex-Chicago fireman, struggling to open a low rent tourist resort in a banana republic. He's got some funny bits, and his throwaway ad lib's are better than most other actors' scripted lines.

The real bonus, though, is the rest of the cast. Jimmy Cliff, the original reggae superstar, stars as Williams'musician business partner (how's _that_ for authenticity?). Peter O'Toole swills drinks and purses his lips around his extra long cigarette holder,while spitting out his cynical, glib observations regarding the tropical paradise/hellhole.

But some of the funniest moments here are provided by several veterans of SCTV. Andrea Martin plays a pampered wife, most definitely out of her element in Williams' accomodations, while Rick Moranis and Eugene Levy are hilarious playing two slaughterhouse workers trying to score, in more ways than one. Some of the drug humor connected with their characters is every bit as funny as anything Cheech & Chong attempted.

Additionally, Brian Doyle-Murray, Twiggy, and Adolph Caesar round out a very busy cast. The story moves along quickly, the music is great, and the whole thing makes a great accompaniment for your favorite bag of microwave popcorn.

6-7 stars.

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2 out of 3 people found the following comment useful :-
Funny and provocative, 10 April 2001

Author: apass from Durham, NC

Ramis has exceptional talent. The eclectic selection of humorous scenes is well woven.

O'Toole lends a great deal of sophistication to the film. His thought provoking words on government and island life stirred my imagination.

Williams seems to have been at his comical best early in his career.

Moranis proves himself to be a true oddball.

Certainly, this is a picture you should not miss seeing.

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3 out of 5 people found the following comment useful :-
Long live the Caribbean, mahn!, 24 June 2005

Author: Lee Eisenberg (eisenberg.lee@gmail.com) from Portland, Oregon, USA

Before Robin Williams solidly established himself as a star in "Good Morning, Vietnam", he starred in several innocuously silly movies such as "Club Paradise". He plays Jack Moniker, a Chicago firefighter who retires and moves to the Caribbean island of St. Nicholas. There, he joins up with tour guide Ernest Reed (Jimmy Cliff) and the two of them open a wild business, with the help of Gov. Anthony Cloyden Hayes (Peter O'Toole). Once the rich American tourists start arriving, the high finks take off.

The movie is mostly an excuse for a bunch of goofy things to happen, especially when the characters played by Eugene Levy and Rick Moranis embarrass themselves. True, Williams did better with some of his later work, but "Club Paradise" is still pretty funny.

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Loved this movie., 8 July 2009

Author: KayCeeMo from United States

This is one of my favorite movies with Robin Williams. Normally, he is so out of control, it's difficult to watch him. This time, he steps back a little and lets the other funny people take a turn. Peter O'Toole stole the picture, as far as I'm concerned, with his droll delivery. Even Twiggy was a pleasant surprise. Loved the Jimmy Clift music, and the Adolph Cesear as the blustery military leader. The two Barrys (Moranis and Levy) had some of the best lines as they tried to score some marijuana. And I'll never pronounce White the same way after Andrea Martin gave it her own special twist. This is a great movie to watch in the dead of winter. It will warm you right up.

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Robin Williams visits SCTV and then swings by SNL, 14 March 2009

Author: RoseNylan from United States

This movie must have been a hell of a lot of fun to be working on the set of. You get a beautiful tropical setting and a cast full of very funny, talented actors and comedians. You get Robin Williams working with nearly the entire cast of SCTV and a few fun SNL faces(Mary Gross, Robin Duke, and Brian Doyle-Murray) and veteran Peter O'Toole thrown in for good measure, all under the direction of another SCTV veteran, Harold Ramis. It is a lot of fun seeing these people work together.

Unfortunately, the film lacks in everything else. There is almost no plot and what there is of a plot consists of going on vacation and then being there, and thats it. The diolouge could have been written by anybody and the characters are not exactly thrilling. Had this film not included such great comic actors, this film would have been an absolute disaster. I cannot recommend this film, but the cast does make it watchable, if it isn't worth watching.

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Lots of funny bits to make it worth a look, 9 December 2008

Author: Gettulio from Toronto, Canada

As an SCTV and SNL fan, I have a soft spot for this film, even though it is flawed. But all said, it's not that bad. I saw it at the cinema with a group of friends in '86 when it came out. All of the SCTV fans were in stitches. The majority of the audience however, thought the film was stupid. The SCTV show was a big part of my life as a young teen. It taught me a great deal about humour. I loved the ensemble of talent in that film as the actors all had Second City, or Groundling cred. At the time, it seemed that exceptional sketch-com writers and performers were cursed when they tried to make the transition to motion pictures. The films were never as funny as the television programmes. All the smart got turned into screw-ball for some reason.

The premise of "Club Paradise" and Robin Williams in the lead, straight away indicates we're in for wackiness. And there are many cheap laughs in this film. But personally I like cheap laughs. I'm so impressed when a comic pulls-off a cheap laugh, especially when you're expecting to see them coming from a mile away. "Club Paradise" is pretty much a lot of comedic vignettes strung together. Many are good. But the story is a little bald. As a writer on SCTV, Harold Ramis was amazing. I've yet however, to see a film he's directed that is a cut above,(although "Groundhog Day" comes close). Watch for Eugene Levy delivering the funniest, sophomoric line in the film.

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This was my 1986 senior high school movie !, 2 August 2006

Author: gmacd1 from United States

I was in my senior year of high school. A bunch of us loaded up in cars and drove to a movie theater in a nearby town. The school had only 150 students and the town was/is still small. Anyway, we all went into the movie theater and before the movie started the class president who was also the clown decided to introduce us as the Class of 87 and this was our senior nite out. He proceeded down the line with all of the class and told people their names nicknames.

A few minutes later the manager came out and told us we'd better behave or get thrown out.

That alone made this movie memorable too me.

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I heart this film...., 27 February 2006

Author: staceydee from United States

I had to add a comment to this page because I couldn't believe that it only had a 4. something rating. I believe it deserves something much higher. I first saw this film about 15 years ago now, and ever since it has become one of my all time favorites. The comedy to the acting to the soundtrack all truly represent the best of 80's comedy film making. Either you love 80's films or you hate them. My husband hates them, which makes me wonder sometimes how I could've married a man that stands against everything I love about movies. The two Barry's are the best. "Barry - Barry... I scored"! I think I have watched this move about 50 times in my life and that is no exaggeration. I will watch it anytime its on. Jimmy Cliff delivers a soundtrack like no other. Every song could'va made one of his albums without anyone knowing it was Scored for a film. In fact I wish I could find where to buy the soundtrack as I have looked for years and have never been able to find it. Brian Doyle Murray is also hilarious in this film. Maybe it has to do with my childhood and experimenting with Reggae, and Drugs that made me fall in love with this film, but as I said it will always be one of my favorites and I hope everyone that loves 80's films gets to see this at least once.

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