Club Paradise (1986)

"I could have done that dive if I didn't have the diarrhea."

Club Paradise is proof of that age-old Hollywood saying; "You're only as good as your last movie". The film was such a commercial and critical failure that it effectively killed of Harold Ramis' career as a director for nearly ten years, despite the string of hits he had attached to his belt prior to this. Despite the high profile cast, the film was still garnered with Razzies, and floundered onto VHS - it has still yet to receive a DVD release in the UK. Now that the dust has settled nearly 30 years later, does it still live up to its reputation? or has time healed all wounds?

Robin Williams (Dead Poets Society, Good Morning Vietnam, The Fisher King) stars as retired fireman Jack Moniker, who, after receiving a payout from the State, decides to re-locate to the peaceful, Caribbean Island of Saint Nicholas. He seems to be living the dream - he has a comfortable shack/house, bags himself a yuppie girlfriend in the shape of Phillipa (Twiggy), and spends his days arsing about in boats, listening to reggae music and exchanging quips with the appointed British governor, Hayes ( Peter O'Toole; Caligula, Supergirl). He also befriends struggling musician and 'hotel' owner, Ernest Reed (real life reggae star, Jimmy Cliff), whose scenic-yet-rustic waterfront business is failing to draw the tourists.

Jack decides to help out Ernest, as he knows the island Mayor has plans for developing on Ernest's beach. Soon they've turned the rundown beach shacks into something that can be advertised - "Club Paradise". Shortly after, the island is flooded with tourists, all with much higher expectations than can be delivered by Jack and Ernest. These wild guests run amok on the island, and seeing as the Mayor isn't having much joy with his development plans, decides a military coup is needed. Will Jack and Ernest be able to keep the bad guys from taking over and destroying the idyllic location? Will Hayes finally do the right thing instead of drinking his life away? Will the guests make it back from their vacation alive? Who knows what could happen in 'Club Paradise'...

The problem with Club Paradise is that the tone is so uneven throughout, it almost feels like several different scripts got jumbled together pre-shooting. The first act mainly concentrates on Jack, Phillipa and the other islanders, which is fairly light and breezy, with an odd political undercurrent to it. When the second act kicks in with the launch of the 'Club Paradise' vacation which draws in the wacky guests, the film shifts into Caddyshack territory, with the main plot dropping firmly into the background while the guests get up to their wild shenanigans in what amounts to an hours worth of sketches, essentially. This is where the bulk of the comedy comes from, and it is pretty damned funny. However, things take another strange turn in the final act, with the military stepping in to the plot, as the politics and slapstick humour try hard to gel together, and sadly they never really do. What this really means is that we lose our leading man early on in the film, and by the time we need him to carry us through the finale, it's too late. You walk away feeling like you had fun, but know deep down there could have been something great there.


Now, saying that, the film is actually full of great gags, if you can get past the script problems. As mentioned, the bulk of the humour is found with the guests, and it's not hard to see why. Among them we get: Barry and Barry (Rick Moranis and Eugene Levy) - two city boys looking to pull ladies any way they can, married couple Linda and Randy (Andrea Martin and Steven Kampmann), and several other recognisable faces, including the likes of Joanna Cassidy and Brian Doyle-Murray. Andrea Martin actually steals most scenes she's in, with highlights including the limbo competition and the cliff diving lessons. Speaking of scene stealing, Joe Flaherty is a blast as the mental pilot for the island - even if he only gets a small handful of scenes. The two Barry's get most of the funny lines, with their attempts to pick up chicks on the beach during the day and at the bars at night. It's great seeing both Moranis and Levy playing against type (sure, they're still nerds, but they don't seem to know it) and they both are hilarious, but that's no surprise.

What is a surprise is how sedate Williams feels in this. Apparently he came in late to the project, and replaced Bill Murray in the lead role. As much as I love Williams, I think Murray would have been a better choice, as he was definitely more suited to the style of humour in the script. There's almost too much emotion in Williams' eyes in some of the scenes, which feels at odds with the happy-go-lucky vibe of the film. It probably isn't helped by the fact that, as mentioned earlier, most of the best lines go to the supporting cast. Still, the film was a change of pace for him, and it's good to see him in it regardless. Twiggy is Twiggy - she has a limited acting range but her character probably has the least to do in the film anyway. I'm not sure Peter O'Toole deserved to be called out for a Razzie for his performance, but they usually pick on a well known star and he just happened to be there, I guess. Worth mentioning is the laid back, Caribbean flavoured soundtrack, much of which is provided by the star, Jimmy Cliff. He definitely does better with the score than he does with acting, with the music really suiting the slapstick humour and beach setting.

Ramis undoubtedly came out the worst, here. It took until Groundhog Day in 1993 for him to return to directing again (but hey, what a comeback!) and I'm unsure if the brunt of it should have fallen on his shoulders. At the time he was best suited to the anarchic, anti-establishment humour that he had built upon in all his projects since Animal House, and after the success of National Lampoons Vacation, he should have been set for gold with Club Paradise. He was definitely let down by the script and loss of leading man, but still, he managed to cobble together something quite watchable in the end. Deserving of the terrible reputation? Definitely not. If you fancy something light with a familiar madness to the comedy, then you could do far worse. Apart from the laughs, you'll be having a great time spotting all of the famous faces. Crack open a bottle of Bacardi, slide into a pair of speedos and dive into this one.