'Reel Paradise' documents family living in Fiji
by Patrick Beach

Well-meaning, uptight, a little brusque and kind of awkward — hey, I could be this guy! — indie movie guru and author John Pierson decided to move his family for a year to the Fijian island of Taveuni as a grand adventure/stunt/way to broaden the children/sabbatical. And, times being what they are, he invited filmmaker Steve ("Hoop Dreams") James along to document the final month of the culture clash — between Fijians and the Piersons and within the Pierson family itself. Like Pierson's immodest experiment, the resulting film, "Reel Paradise," is as beautiful as, um, a tropical island and as messy and mixed-up as real life. Read the full review

TO SUM UP
New York writer and film distributor John Pierson took his family to Fiji in search of the "world's most remote movie theater." There he fell in love with the 180 Meridian Cinema when he saw the wild enthusiasm of the audience to a showing of the Three Stooges' "Some More of Samoa" — a short they had been showing at the theater since it opened in 1954.

FILM FACTS ...
Wellspring
'Reel Paradise'

Directors: Steve James, Steve James (II)
Starring: John Pierson, Janet Pierson, Georgia Pierson, Wyatt Pierson
Run time: 114 minutes
Release date: August 17, 2005
Rating: R for language including sexual references, and brief crude humor.

On the web
Official movie site
View the trailer

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READ THE REVIEW

Austin American-Statesman: 3 of 5 stars
"This is essentially reality TV stretched to almost two too-long hours."


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