Before she became a sensation that has endured to this day from wearing a red bikini in Fast Times At Ridgemont High, Phoebe Cates starred a year earlier in the much racier and much lesser known Blue Lagoon ripoff Paradise. The movie itself is terrible, but not without some unintentional laughs. Willie Aames is the
blond surfer dude (although set in the 1820s) with a severe acting impediment, expressing every emotion as if he's reacting to electrical shocks from a car battery. His parents are killed by an evil sheik so he & Phoebe and her crusty English guardian flee into the desert to escape. Crusty English guardian soon dies, so once they stumble onto an oasis it's up to the young pair to create their own 'paradise.' Honestly the only reason to watch this so-called adventure is because of Phoebe, and you'll have to sit through bad drama, repetitive scenes, and masturbating monkeys to get there. But she delivers the goods, all of them, and with surprising frequency. Her first nude scene is the best, and truly one of the most breathtaking in movie history as she takes a long shower underneath a waterfall in a vast cave - the lighting and the setting create a composition of pure, natural beauty. If you loved her in Fast Times, you will worship her in this. She even sings the theme song!
December 16, 2011
