Blending excellent reporting and strong storytelling, this is a disturbing film truly stranger than fiction

The best films of this genre always show a path and provide a takeaway for being a better person.

Although I seem to have had higher expectations than I thought, the movie is super entertaining.

The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.

This the only Christmas movie that i watch constantly year after year.I don't know why the low grade.My guess is that people are not using the film properly,and by "properly" i mean: It's a frickin' Christmas flick,don't watch it in July,or after a hard days work in September or in the spring vacation.I mean,what else do you need?it's got great comedy,romance,family closeness and lots of snow,all set in a very easy going small town with uncomplicated inhabitants...the kind of small town in witch we all dream to live.Jon Lovitz,Dana Carvey and Cage are all playing their natural characters without overacting crap or trying to outshine one another.In my opinion this is a slam-dunk Christmas classic and it's to bad for whoever doesn't put it on it's Holidays playlist.

Nicholas Cage, Jon Lovitz and Dana Carvey are "Trapped in Paradise" in this 1994 film also starring Madchen Amick, Donald Moffat and Florence Stanley. Cage plays Bill Firpo, a man desperately trying to distance himself from his jailbird brothers Dave and Alvin (Lovitz and Carvey) and take the high road; unfortunately, overcrowding in the prisons causes the boys to be released early. One of them heard a great story in prison about a bank ripe for the picking. It's too good to pass up, so the three head for Paradise, Pennsylvania to rob the bank, only to find that once they have, they can't get out of town due to the overwhelming hospitality of the townspeople.This film is very funny, and I admit to loving Nicholas Cage in comedy. It always comes from a real place, making the comedy even funnier. His reactions to his brothers are hilarious. As he puts it, "In the Firpo family, the man with half a brain is king." Florence Stanley is a riot as the boys' mother and is given some great lines like, "You guys are dumber than a box of hair." Lovitz and Carvey are goofy; Carvey's Alvin is a kleptomaniac who doesn't seem completely there, and Lovitz' Dave is a conniver with a mind that goes right to criminal intent at all times. The three make quite a trio.Good fun. It's not War and Peace, its just light entertainment with some good performances, a funny premise, and some great dialogue. For some reason, it's often hard to get all three.

I have to say that one Saturday afternoon, thanks to Sky Movies, I was enlightened by this little move called 'Trapped in Paradise'. What first struck me was the fact that Dana Carvey is part of the cast. He is - without a doubt one of the funniest actors ... ever. And Nicholas Cage and do funny...who knew?!"Yeah we can get some ring-dings! Then we'll get some baloooons and go to the pupp't - show!"That is one of my favourite lines, as is:Alvin: "Who are you?" Guy who saved him from drowning: "Fred" Alvin: "Flinstone?" Guy who saved him from drowning: "Yeah" Alvin:"Oh..."Ah, Dana.Watch this movie, you will cry with laughter, you may even just laugh at Dana's facial expressions, but that is more than enough. x

I'm sure "Trapped In Paradise" was MEANT to be a full fledged comedy, and WANTED to have a heart-warming message to it... perhaps even HOPED it would capture the holiday spirit-seeking audiences that paid hard money to see this. But, I'm afraid it failed on all three counts. Not that Nicolas Cage, Jon Lovitz and Dana Carvey aren't ordinarily funny, by all means, no. They are wonderful in their own rights.It's just that THIS storyline, script and direction lost its punch very early in the film, and the three main characters simply could not save it. Yes, I laughed out loud several times, and liked the madcap interaction between Cage, Lovitz and Carvey. But I think I could have written a BETTER ending, one befitting that of "The Blues Brothers", or something like it. Perhaps the next time these three guys get together in a comedy, they'll find a better writer and director. Otherwise, they will remain "trapped" in (fill in the blank).