Film Review: Another Day in Paradise (1998)

4 months ago (Edited)

(source: tmdb.org)

Larry Clark became famous for his stylish and controversial 1995 feature debut Kids, gruelling hyperrealistic drama about lives of dysfunctional teens. Protagonist of his next film, 1998 crime drama Another Day of Paradise, could easily fit within parameters of Clark’s debut. The plot is set in 1970s and the main character, played by Vincent Karthesier, is Bobbie, a teenager addicted to methamphetamines. In order to support his habit, he engages in petty crime, and during one of the minor heists gets involved in scuffle with security guard that would leave him seriously injured. His girlfriend Rosie (played by Natasha Gregson Wagner) brings him to Mel (played by James Woods), middle-aged former military medic and self-proclaimed master thief, who patches Bobbie up and treats him with heroin. Mel apparently likes Bobbie and asks his help with his own scheme that involves robbing pharmacies. Bobbie agrees and, together with Rosie, joins Mel and Mel’s girlfriend Sid (played by Melanie Griffith) who would gradually become mother figure to Rosie, just as Mel would become Bobbie’s mentor. Their life of crime, during which almost all money earned goes to support their drug habit, gets increasingly violent, brings them in all kinds of dangerous situations and ultimately tests their friendships.

Another Day in Paradise was based on the semi-autobiographical novel by Eddie Little, inspired by author’s own experiences with heroin addiction and crime. Clark approached this film with his usual style, portraying the dark story about dysfunctional characters with lot of grittiness, enhanced by hand held cameras. Although film features some nudity and a sex scene (which later led to issues with MPAA censors), there is significantly less emphasis on erotica and more on violence. Another Day in Paradise is actually much more conventional film than Kids and one of the reasons for it is James Woods, who not only played one of the main roles, but was also one of film’s producers. He delivered another strong performance playing a man who initially wins a lot of sympathy with his street smarts and successful role of father figure, only to gradually show the audience that he is nothing more than drug addict and ruthless criminal. Woods easily outshines all other members of the cast, including Melanie Griffith, with whom he appeared together in celebrated New Hollywood thriller Night Moves two decades earlier. Same can be said for Karthesier who, with his boyish looks, seems almost unrecognisable to those who would later remember him as Pete Campbell in Mad Men. Despite such strong performance, Another Day in Paradise failed to make much of the impact and represents one of the more obscure titles in Clark’s filmography. This is partly due the film not living to its full potential, mainly because Clark uses blues soundtrack that often represent unnecessary distraction, at least those who aren’t too enthusiastic about this sort of music. But the cause of film wasn’t helped by very troubled production and serious creative differences between Clark and Woods, which led to public badmouthing of each other and film after the premiere. Clark’s career, however, although his subsequent films were more conventional.

RATING: 5/10 (++)