Club Paradise

 

                                      My Mom was recently listening to a book about legendary writer Harold Ramis written by his daughter Violet Ramis-Stiel, and again this was during my Christmas break where I wasn't going to watch a whole lot of movies, but then my Mom suddenly texted me one of Ramis films he made called Club Paradise, and this was one of those films that he made after the success of Ghostbusters so in my usual boredom I decided to watch the film that's on Tubi aka the cheap Netflix streaming service. And honestly, it's having the flair of a Ramis comedy but somewhat falls flat with so many unconnected jokes, and roles that were obviously not written for the actors but will get to that later let’s talk about the film Ramis made that somewhat didn't need to be made or just failed because of drug use.

                                      Jack Moniker (Robin Williams) is a retired firefighter who teams up with reggae singer Ernest Reed (Jimmy Cliff) to open a tropical island resort. In addition to local eccentrics such as British lay about Anthony Cloyden Hayes (Peter O'Toole), Jack and Ernest are joined by tourists eager to stay at their resort, including the goofy, party-seeking duo of Barry (Eugene Levy) and Barry (Rick Moranis).

                                      Now, I don't think that this is the worst thing I've ever seen, and I can say that because a lot of those films I can look at and despise them so much that it causes me severe mental problems. I will confirm that yes the film is bad but it's kind of a mesmerizing bad in which I tried and figure out how and why this film was made in the first place, and the more logic answer was that Harold probably needed the money and judging that L.A. back in the mid to late eighties with paying bills and more importantly paying off your weed dealer so, really that sounds like a logical explanation though I'm just assuming that happened I don't have a ton of proof if that's the real reason and I never claim myself to always be right. The main problem I have with the film is that this does follow a traditional Harold Ramis film or movie he stars in, though its kind a follow like a sort of Saturday Night Live skit shows and the main storyline is just lost in the mist. And really the role of Robin Williams part was intended to be Bill Murray in the starring role but unfortunately, he turned down the role and that's how Robin Williams got the part, moreover Williams wasn't all bad it just, wasn't made for him and Ramis later said "We thought Club Paradise had a good chance at the box office. But we were the fourth Caribbean comedy out that year (1986), and none of them did any business. The casting ended up being dramatically opposed to what was intended. It was intended for Bill Murray and John Cleese, with Bill as the laid-back-guy and Cleese as the over-the-top guy, and we ended up with Robin Williams and Peter O'Toole, with O'Toole as the laid-back-guy and Robin the over-the-top guy. The polarities shifted, and it was not as interesting or as solid as it might have been if Bill and Cleese were there". And the big question is couldn't Ramis just re-write the script for both Williams and O'Toole to fit their personality? Deep down I guess will never know because even going back to this movie just hurts my brain. Not to be mean for many reasons it's not hard to watch as the original Vacation, but deep down this film does belong in the Tubi streaming service, furthermore now that I finished this movie it's probably safe to say that I actually have no intentions to re-watch the film again although the film alone is fascinating to watch and try to piece the film together in terms of how you can do this better. As a fan of Harold Ramis work, I would say yes watch this movie if you love his work as well, but then you'll probably regret it later.