Return to Paradise

"Give up three years of their lives or give up the life of their friend. They have eight days to decide."

Aug 14 1998 R 1h 51m
Drama, Romance, Thriller

Lewis, Sheriff and Tony are three friends vacationing in Malaysia. Sheriff and Tony eventually leave to pursue careers in New York, but Lewis stays behind to work with orangutans. Two years later, Sheriff and Tony learn that, because of their past actions, Lewis has been arrested for drug possession. With Lewis facing a death sentence, the friends are left with a difficult decision: return to Malaysia and split Lewis' sentence, or let him die.

Plot

Three friends share an exciting vacation in Malaysia, full of fun, drinks, women and hash. When the vacation is over, each have dreams of continuing their lives, and they all go their separate ways. One of them (Phoenix) remains on the tropical paradise to fulfill a dream of working with apes for research. Two years later, a lawyer (Heche) comes to New York and hunts down the other two friends to give some sad news. A few days after they left the island, police raided their camp and found amazingly large quantities of hash left about. Phoenix was still residing there, so he had to take the blame. He is set to be put to death in 8 days, and the only way the charges can be decreased is if the two friends come back to paradise and take their share of the responsibilty. If they do, they both will spend three years in prison. If only one does, he will spend six years behind bars...

Written by

Pierre Jolivet, Olivier Schatzky, Wesley Strick

Directed by

Joseph Ruben

Production Countries

United States of America

Production Companies

PolyGram Filmed Entertainment, Propaganda Films, Tetragram

Languages

English

Awards

2 nominations total

Scores
# of Votes
15,722
Average Rating
6.9 out of 10
Metascore
56
Popularity
NA