Written and directed by John Marco Lopez
With performances by Chris Petrovski, Kirk “Sticky Fingaz” Jones, Kareem Saviñon, Hassan “Giant” Bradley, and Laura Kamin
Language: English
Running time: 97 minutes
There is, in its being shown entirely in black-and-white, a temptation to see John Marco Lopez’s Paradise City as an illustration of a world that is bleak, literally devoid of colour (and, by extension, hope and joy). As a result, there is a world that is at constant odds between the good and the bad. Throw in characters who are seemingly clear-cut in their moralities (or, in some cases, lack thereof), and what you get is the immediate understanding that heroes are determinedly heroes and that villains are irredeemably villains.
But resist that temptation and, instead, look closer at the world Lopez actually presents in his third feature film.
Although Paradise City generally leaves a lot to be desired, the most interesting—indeed, nuanced—element is that it plays on the viewers’ preconceived notions of who police officers, terrorists, criminals, and family units are—that is, who we are led to believe they are—and challenges you to think more critically. By, for example, positioning Police Chief Frank Murdoch (Sticky Fingaz) as the decorated offer who spearheads a counter-terrorism campaign against homegrown extremists in NYC, and by conversely placing Brother Nazim (Giant), an ex-criminal-turned-devout-Muslim, as the prime suspect of Murdoch’s investigation, the film invites you, as a viewer in a post-9/11 world, to believe that Murdoch is good and Nazim is bad.
At the same time, however, the film turns those stereotypes around, thus urging you to—with full irony—resist seeing the world in black-and-white terms. This is where Alistair (Petrovski) and Jimmy (Saviñon) come in: as the emotional backbones of the film, these two characters—the former, a junkie with affluent roots; the latter, a young cop with a checkered past, working undercover in Nazim’s congregation—ultimately become the prime examples of the pain, anguish, and sacrifice that is rife in a world where the bad pretend to be the good and where the good are either targeted disenfranchised, or exploited by the bad.
The film’s cast performs well: Sticky Fingaz, with his gravelly-toned voice, is menacing as the corrupt police chief; Saviñon is superb as the undercover cop who grapples with his mission and his morality; and Giant is an oasis of peace and love as the reformed criminal and leader of his congregation. But it’s Petrovski who is the standout as the messy, loud, and emotionally distraught junkie who goes up against his manipulative sister (Kamin).
What the film lacks, however, is cohesion. Lopez takes the high-action political drama that we typically see being churned out by major Hollywood studios and attempts to bring it down to the sensibilities of independent cinema—which isn’t necessarily a bad thing—but there are, at times, too many elements, side-scenes, and side-storylines that are trying to shine through. So much so that it becomes distracting and, more detrimentally, evident that this is, above all, an indie film wearing the much-bigger shoes of a blockbuster movie.
This being Lopez’s third feature film, most of the film’s flaws can, of course, be forgiven. Lopez, in his direction, shows sensitivity and depth in the way he crafts and captures the human spirit in the good characters, the bad, and those in between. Alistair’s flashback / dream sequences, for example, aim for the heart and never miss, allowing the viewers to dive deeply into one of the more complex and ambiguous characters. This allows us to believe in him and, what’s more, resist judgment when it comes to his explosive decision at the end of the film.
If there is any reason not to skip Paradise City, it is how human the characters and their actions are. They are traumatised, cornered, and afraid; and yet, they are also forgiving, generous, and determined to find peace and joy. This is about as human and real as you can get. In truth, they are reflections of the people you see every day, particularly those who find themselves at the bottom of the barrel, looking up, looking for a way out.
Paradise City, once you sift through the fluff and trim the fact, gives you just that: a hard look at what’s good, what’s bad, and what really matters, plus, at the end of it all, where we as people living in an increasingly unjust and fearfully uncertain world, go from here.
Paradise City is available to stream on iTunes, Amazon, Google, Vudu, Tubi, Pluto, and much more.
