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Reel Paradise
Directed by
Steve James
R
2005
1h 50m
Documentary
6.5
69%
66%
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Former indie film "guru" John Pierson takes his family to Fiji for one year to run the world's most remote movie theater.
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Cast of Reel Paradise
John Pierson
Self
Janet Pierson
Self
Georgia Pierson
Self
Steve James
Director / Producer
Scott Mosier
Producer
Reel Paradise Ratings & Reviews
Washington Post
Desson Thomson
Highly watchable.
St. Louis Post-Dispatch
Joe Williams
The director's visit wasn't long enough to fully humanize this culture clash, but some of the movie's conclusions seem universal.
Boston Globe
Ty Burr
An amusingly damning portrait of a man trying to impose his will on a world that, really, has better things to do.
Austin Chronicle
Marc Savlov
Serves not only as a charming, witty glimpse into an American nuclear family uprooted to browner pastures, but also as an exploration of how Hollywood product is viewed outside the Lower 48.
AV Club
Noel Murray
The Piersons are warm, funny people, and most of Reel Paradise shows them comically bickering with each other and laughing at the absurdity of the whole project.
Chicago Reader
Jonathan Rosenbaum
Tthe comic fallout from his quixotic mission keeps Reel Paradise watchable.
Chicago Tribune
Michael Phillips
The results stay with you, like memories of an unexpected and surprising vacation.
Chicago Sun-Times
Roger Ebert
Sometimes it's not whether you succeed, but whether you try.
Newsday
Jan Stuart
One wish[es] James could have followed him and his family from the beginning of their year-long adventure, rather than being swept in at the emotional tail end.
San Francisco Chronicle
Walter V. Addiego
These are among sporadic scenes of interest captured by director James, but if a larger point is being made, it's hard to say what.
Los Angeles Times
Kevin Crust
Arriving for the last month of the Pierson family's sojourn, James artfully captures the flavor of their yearlong stay.
Slate
David Edelstein
Overlong at nearly two hours but still a sharp and amusing and subtle piece of filmmaking.
New York Daily News
Jack Mathews
If Reel Paradise were being shown anywhere but on Tavianu or in New York, I doubt they could give it away.
Entertainment Weekly
Owen Gleiberman
The first role in Pierson's career that looks awful on him is that of a family-man missionary bringing free movies to the natives in the egregious documentary Reel Paradise.
New York Times
Stephen Holden
Steve James's absorbing documentary follows a family to the rural Fijian island of Taveuni, where they showed free movies in the world's most remote movie theater.
New York Post
Lou Lumenick
Many of us movie buffs have fantasized about running our own theater -- but John Pierson (host of IFC's Split Screen) actually got to do it, for a whole year.
Village Voice
Ed Halter
Unfortunately, what could have been a superficially amusing IFC reality series was stretched into a thin, overlong feature that follows the rocky integration of this very New York clan into a somewhat ruffled island society.
Slant Magazine
Ed Gonzalez
May be screened in film courses as an example of how the Guru of Independent Film came to bow before the altar of Hollywood blockbusters.
The Hollywood Reporter
John DeFore
It's an engrossing and often very funny tale.
Variety
Todd McCarthy
An engaging docu about his year-long stint showing free movies to the locals at what's purportedly the world's most remote cinema.
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