Club Paradise (1986)

Editor's Note Robin Williams stars in this tropical comedy as Jack Moniker, a Chicago fireman who retires after suffering injuries on the job. Escaping to the tropics, he partners with a musician/nightclub owner Ernest (Jimmy Cliff) to transform a dilapidated Caribbean watering hole into a swinging singles hotspot. Following the wacky hijinks of the fellow vacationers, this film is big on laughs as the locals and tourists band together against the corrupt Prime Minister Soloman Grundy (Adolph Caeser), who is desperately trying to close the club. The film features a fabulous reggae soundtrack by costar Jimmy Cliff.

	Jimmy Cliff
	Peter O'Toole
	Rick Moranis
	Robin Williams
	Alan Greisman - Executive Producer
	Brian Doyle-Murray - Screenplay
	Harold Ramis - Director
	Jimmy Cliff, et. al. - Original Music By
	John Graysmark - Production Designer
	Marion Rothman - Editor
	Michael Shamberg - Producer
	Peter Hannan - Cinematographer

An injured fireman (Robin Williams) uses his insurance money to leave the cares of the city behind and open a luxury Club Med-style Caribbean resort with his friend, nightclub owner/musician Ernest (Jimmy Cliff). However, the luxury resort turns out to be replete with lizards, bad plumbing, and corrupt officials. Twiggy costars as Phillipa Lloyd, a leftover British tourist who sparks Jack's interest and helps him to maintain sanity as they all struggle to keep the club afloat while watching over their naive party-crazy guests, with hysterical results. Rick Moranis and Eugene Levy shine as sleazy swinging singles looking to score on their tropical vacation. There is big trouble in paradise as an independence revolt brews on the island against the pompous Prime Minister Soloman Grundy (Adolph Caesar) and corrupt businessmen who are trying to close the club and sell the island. Somehow the shaky resort manages to withstand tropical storms and the final revolt by kitchen-utensil-wielding staff members against the island's dictator. One of the stars of this film is the fabulous reggae soundtrack by costar and famed reggae musician Jimmy Cliff. Variety
"...There are some hilarious scenes...Most notably with Moranis and Levy as two wild and crazy guys..." 07/09/1986

Chicago Sun-Times 5 of 10
What happens in Club Paradise, however, is that the movie lives so firmly in the moment that it never develops any energy for its story. There's nothing for us to really care about. The screenplay is broken down into schtick so that characters can materialize, do their thing and evaporate. The most notable victim of this approach is Peter O'Toole, who plays the dissipated British governor-general of the island. He appears, gives us a taste of a potentially great comic character and then is never really exploited. - Roger Ebert