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Rating: 
Summary: gradually winning
Review: an intriguing film that gradually envelops the viewer and takes one into the interesting and unpredictable mind of its protagonist. At first I thought this was gonna be another one of those now cliched movies that features a character making their own home movie and going nowhere fast. Fortunately, I was pulled into the somewhat disturbed and surreal psychology of this woman and her strange journey. The acting is admirable and one is left being moved by this charming and troubling visionary sojourn.
Rating: 
Summary: Surprised at the good reviews
Review: I didn't like this story at all. Mostly because the story is a very old one... seen many times before. And also the camera style annoyed me. Basically we follow Gilda as she deals with her fathers illness, death, and learning of his affair with another woman. Gilda is already obsessed with an actor played by Chris Noth, but becomes increasingly so as she discovers truths about her father and family.
The style of the story is very haphazzard with lots of cuts and clips. Made it hard for me to really feel for Gilda.
The material itself seemed like movie of the week territory and was boring and trite. I couldn't tell how old Gilda was supposed to be but she can't be too world weary if she can be so easily influenced by a movie star.
Rating: 
Summary: Paci is an excellent director/writer!!!
Review: I got to attend a screening of this film with the director/writer, and I was totally impressed. It feels very intimate - the characters literally come alive, but it's also really funny. The performances are also brilliant. And Paci is simply a delightful intellect. i definitely reccomend it
Rating:
Summary: Lots of wonderful, gratuitous moments for Chris Noth fans...
Review: I was impressed by the depth of this work, but also a bit put off by the main character...couldn't empatize with her, although she was acted wonderfully. That could have been just my own opinion, but she was a tad *too* complex to garner any affection. Chris Noth is simply electric in this film. The scenes with him make you, the viewer, as excited, scared, and longing as Gilda is feeling. It is transcendent. This is the kind of movie where I'd skip ahead to the limo/hotel room scene, and leave the rest of the film for those who enjoy esoteric psychodrama.
Rating:
Summary: Experimental Filmmaking at its Best
Review: SEARCHING FOR PARADISE is an autobiographical story written and directed by the gifted Myra Paci. This film is an excellent example of just how fine Indies can be - taking risks on story, on actors, on the mechanics of filming techniques, on pacing, on music scoring, etc. Paci examines the life of Gilda (the superb Susan May Pratt) whose Italian father (Michele Placido in a stunning performance) loves her but leaves her in death to carry on his idiosyncratic view of romance. Gilda fantasizes about meeting and having an affair with a movie star (Chris Noth) and prepares for her adventure by using a video camera to record her father's last days, her mother (Laila Robin), and her friends. When her father dies, her 'search for paradise' takes her (with video camera) to New York where she dons the persona of Paola Mattei from Rome's Espresso magazine just to gain an interview with her movie star hero while living with her grandparents (Joseph Summers has a fine cameo as her grandfather). She has a brief and unsuccessful attempt at romance with a student (Jeremy Davies). Up to this point we know the movie star only through a TV talk show interview Gilda has been watching and Director Paci uses this technique of inserting the black and white TV talk show to probe the personality of the movie star. Gilda as Paola gains her interview, finds a brief and utterly disappointing affair that further bursts her bubble about romance in general. The knowledge that both her father and grandfather had extramarital affairs now seems less romantic and more painful. She returns home to the mother she has never understood and mother and daughter quietly uncover a new relationship. The use of arias from the opera Rigoletto, Vivaldi works , and pop music are used sensitively to enhance the mood of this very quiet story. All of the actors are excellent and the direction is sensitive and illuminating. A lovely little movie, this, and one well worth your attention.
Rating:
Summary: Experimental Filmmaking at its Best
Review: SEARCHING FOR PARADISE is an autobiographical story written and directed by the gifted Myra Paci. This film is an excellent example of just how fine Indies can be - taking risks on story, on actors, on the mechanics of filming techniques, on pacing, on music scoring, etc. Paci examines the life of Gilda (the superb Susan May Pratt) whose Italian father (Michele Placido in a stunning performance) loves her but leaves her in death to carry on his idiosyncratic view of romance. Gilda fantasizes about meeting and having an affair with a movie star (Chris Noth) and prepares for her adventure by using a video camera to record her father's last days, her mother (Laila Robin), and her friends. When her father dies, her 'search for paradise' takes her (with video camera) to New York where she dons the persona of Paola Mattei from Rome's Espresso magazine just to gain an interview with her movie star hero while living with her grandparents (Joseph Summers has a fine cameo as her grandfather). She has a brief and unsuccessful attempt at romance with a student (Jeremy Davies). Up to this point we know the movie star only through a TV talk show interview Gilda has been watching and Director Paci uses this technique of inserting the black and white TV talk show to probe the personality of the movie star. Gilda as Paola gains her interview, finds a brief and utterly disappointing affair that further bursts her bubble about romance in general. The knowledge that both her father and grandfather had extramarital affairs now seems less romantic and more painful. She returns home to the mother she has never understood and mother and daughter quietly uncover a new relationship. The use of arias from the opera Rigoletto, Vivaldi works , and pop music are used sensitively to enhance the mood of this very quiet story. All of the actors are excellent and the direction is sensitive and illuminating. A lovely little movie, this, and one well worth your attention.
Rating:
Summary: Searching for Paradise- very dramatic autobiography
Review: Searching for Paradise is the story of a young woman's obsession with a famous actor, who thinks that a romance with this actor
( played by Chris Noth- of Mr.Big 'Sex and the City' fame and 'Law & Order' crime-drama series ) will make everything in life perfect- especially after her Italian father dies after a long battle with illness which has left her emotionally vulnerable,hurt & angry. The young woman is played by Susan May Pratt ( '10 things I hate about you','Center Stage' )with an amazing performance.Chris Noth turns in a completely unvain performance-don't expect Mr. Noth to look or be the way you've ever experienced him before.Joseph Summer ( the father of Roy Cohn as a little boy in "Citizen Cohn" movie )is good as the grandfather.Laila Robins ( 'Dream Man' ) as the wife/mother of the main character. Jeremy Davies ( '29 Palms','Spanking the Monkey' ) as a potential love interest. The theme to this movie is "Some fantasies are better left to the imagination". This downbeat romantic drama is filled with deep intense emotions that the young woman tries to cope with by filming them with her hand-held video camera of which she's made home movies of her father before he died. The writing is intelligent. THe acting is intense. This is a very different kind of drama.There are special features: audio commentary by the writer director who wrote this as an autobiography. THere are deleted scenes.There is an interview with Susan May Pratt. THere is also an intimate interview with actor Chris Noth.This film is presented in Widescreen format with dolby digital sound. This is not a romantic drama but a drama about a romantic who is dramatic.
Rating:
Summary: Searching for Paradise- very dramatic autobiography
Review: Searching for Paradise is the story of a young woman's obsession with a famous actor, who thinks that a romance with this actor
( played by Chris Noth- of Mr.Big 'Sex and the City' fame and 'Law & Order' crime-drama series ) will make everything in life perfect- especially after her Italian father dies after a long battle with illness which has left her emotionally vulnerable,hurt & angry. The young woman is played by Susan May Pratt ( '10 things I hate about you','Center Stage' )with an amazing performance.Chris Noth turns in a completely unvain performance-don't expect Mr. Noth to look or be the way you've ever experienced him before.Joseph Summer ( the father of Roy Cohn as a little boy in "Citizen Cohn" movie )is good as the grandfather.Laila Robins ( 'Dream Man' ) as the wife/mother of the main character. Jeremy Davies ( '29 Palms','Spanking the Monkey' ) as a potential love interest. The theme to this movie is "Some fantasies are better left to the imagination". This downbeat romantic drama is filled with deep intense emotions that the young woman tries to cope with by filming them with her hand-held video camera of which she's made home movies of her father before he died. The writing is intelligent. THe acting is intense. This is a very different kind of drama.There are special features: audio commentary by the writer director who wrote this as an autobiography. THere are deleted scenes.There is an interview with Susan May Pratt. THere is also an intimate interview with actor Chris Noth.This film is presented in Widescreen format with dolby digital sound. This is not a romantic drama but a drama about a romantic who is dramatic.
Rating:
Summary: Flawed and disturbing, yet beautifully executed
Review: This film is impeccably put together, with a fine cast and excellent screenplay. The story combines humor (a young woman named Gilda is obsessed with a sexy older actor, and meanwhile engages in prickly schoolgirl interactions with her mother and grandmother) with pathos (the enormity of dealing with a parent's death). The dialogue rings true and the acting is uniformly inspired. There are some touching meditations on what it is to love a parent and on our relationships with the dead. There is the ever-interesting film-within-a-film subplot as well as, for hard-core Freudians, the phallic symbolism of the video recorder. But the Freudian analysis is laid on very thick: Gilda's Electra complex manifests itself in fantasies involving incest and murder, which threaten to break through into her overt behavior as she stalks and seduces the actor. While the film implies that perhaps this leads to a cathartic resolution of her conflicts, that was not persuasive to me because her character is portrayed as a pretty sick puppy in serious need of psychiatric intervention. Another bone I would pick is that the "paradise" theme is more of a throwaway motif than an integral part of the film (though I did enjoy the shot of bathroom graffiti about "paradice"). But even the underdeveloped theme and unconvincing psychological portrait didn't detract too much from what is in many ways a very intelligent, gutsy, affecting, and refreshing film.
Rating:
Summary: Flawed and disturbing, yet beautifully executed
Review: This film is impeccably put together, with a fine cast and excellent screenplay. The story combines humor (a young woman named Gilda is obsessed with a sexy older actor, and meanwhile engages in prickly schoolgirl interactions with her mother and grandmother) with pathos (the enormity of dealing with a parent's death). The dialogue rings true and the acting is uniformly inspired. There are some touching meditations on what it is to love a parent and on our relationships with the dead. There is the ever-interesting film-within-a-film subplot as well as, for hard-core Freudians, the phallic symbolism of the video recorder. But the Freudian analysis is laid on very thick: Gilda's Electra complex manifests itself in fantasies involving incest and murder, which threaten to break through into her overt behavior as she stalks and seduces the actor. While the film implies that perhaps this leads to a cathartic resolution of her conflicts, that was not persuasive to me because her character is portrayed as a pretty sick puppy in serious need of psychiatric intervention. Another bone I would pick is that the "paradise" theme is more of a throwaway motif than an integral part of the film (though I did enjoy the shot of bathroom graffiti about "paradice"). But even the underdeveloped theme and unconvincing psychological portrait didn't detract too much from what is in many ways a very intelligent, gutsy, affecting, and refreshing film.
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