A bluegrass musical comedy where good and evil fight for the soul of a dried-up coal mining town.
Filmed as a one-set play, “Paradise: A Town of Sinners and Saints” sings and dances merrily along, loaded with generous amounts of social commentary and thick satire. Mary Sarah stars as Louanne Knight, the daughter of the wealthiest family in town. Though she inherited the bulk of the land in Paradise, she plans to leave the dying town and see the world. Things take a turn when Reverend John Cyrus Mountain (Jon Root) arrives on the scene, claiming shamelessly to be a for-profit prophet. He speaks of building a megachurch that will attract worshipers from miles around – bearing more than a passing resemblance to folks like Joel Osteen, who preach the prosperity gospel to all…or at least to anyone who cares to listen. The movie irreverently pokes jabs in a timely fashion at current issues. When Louanne announces her desire to travel, Ezra Johnson (Dave Florek) intones in the background that she should do so before it’s all owned by the Chinese.
Reverend Mountain’s assistant, Chastity Jones (Raquel Castro), adds to the sleazy window dressing that often accompanies Evangelical ministers, either publicly or privately. She attempts to persuade Louanne that a planned reality TV show about the one-horse town would benefit all residents.
“Paradise” contains one snappy tune after another. It’s fun when yet another song breaks out to elaborate on the narrative or a reveal a character’s backstory. Most of the score is upbeat, perky, and self-aware, such as when the townsfolk proclaim that they are hillbillies and proud of it. Most people who appear onstage have the same last name – no doubt related – including Cyndi Johnson (Diane Delano).
When a producer for the reality TV show named Peter Martinez (Eric Casalini) arrives, he immediately attempts to imprint his vision on affairs under the tutelage of Reverend Mountain. The preacher coarsely claims to be looking for a piece-of-crap reality vehicle that will put on display a similarly piece-of-crap town. The description sounds like a weekend nature program when he talks about shooting the local inhabitants in their authentic habitat. He intends to win over the big-spending 25-to-50-year-old demographic for advertising and revenue-generating purposes.
Meanwhile, Peter is tasked with convincing Louanne to sign release papers, as she holds the key to obtaining most of the local citizens’ consent to get the production rolling. It turns out that as Louanne sings about a make-believe man she would like to be with, it seems that Peter would fit the bill nicely.
Other storyline tangents include Edward Singletary as Mayor Gaylord Pettibone Johnson, who wants his son Alan (Casey Ford Alexander) to star on Broadway – likely masking a secret desire on his part. Father and son eventually reconcile their conflicting goals when all is disclosed during their own song-and-dance number, of course.
“Paradise” clearly intends to ridicule the hypocrisies of all large, organized religious sects, which it does with humor, style, and a bit of overacting. Nonetheless, the stage show recreated as a movie on a shoestring budget, “Paradise: A Town of Sinners and Saints,” keeps things lively and entertaining throughout its nearly two-hour runtime.
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