Reel Paradise

When John Pierson told me he was moving his family to Fiji to run the Meridian 180 Theater for a year, he invited me to visit if I was in the neighborhood. How tempting it was to spearfish by day and watch movies all night. Alas, my schedule didn't provide time to hop a tramp steamer to the South Seas. So I had to settle for seeing a movie that chronicled his time on the Pacific island. I was apprehensive before watching Reel Paradise. Would it just be two hours of vacation video? Would there be shots of Pierson standing in front of landmarks and waving at the camera? Was this going to be better than the video of my parents' trip to Jackson Hole?

Unlike dad, John brought Steve James, the director of Hoop Dreams to capture the final month of his tropical cinema experience. We're not treated to merely a vanity piece about Americans living in paradise. We learn that there are dangers around them. While they ran free movies for the locals, someone broke into their house and stole their computer (among other things). And this event, while traumatic to the Piersons, creates the tension that will keep you watching. Who amongst their "friends" on the island heisted their stuff?

I've known John for over a decade, but his family was a mystery to me. It was cool to see what it's like around their dinner table. Janet comes off as a practical mom trying to cope with her husband's mid-life career change and making sure the kids stay on track. Wyatt rebels against his father by hating indie films. His daughter, Georgia, has her own rebellion as she comes of age and goes native. This is a family that I'd want to watch, even if I didn't slightly know them.

This isn't merely a film about a man showing free movies. Reel explores the culture of Fiji beyond the scope of a tourist brochure. We see the riff between the Fijians and the Indians that live on the island. We also get a sense of island time, which never synchronizes with a watch.

The moment that made me laugh the hardest was when a couple of college kids show up on the island with their thesis projects. They prove that even in the middle of the ocean, audiences won't suffer through student films. What do the people in Fiji like on the silver screen? The Three Stooges are still massively popular. John enjoyed saying that Curly was worshipped like a god on the island. This led to a feud with the local Roman Catholic Church. The other film that the locals loved was Jackass, which led to John getting in trouble with the government and arguments at home.

As a bonus, this disc includes 16 minutes of deleted scenes. Nothing that screams that it should have been in the film, but there's more of John's dealing with Fiji's police (don't expect a CSI: Fiji on CBS next season). There's also an alternate ending where we watch the family pack up the house for their flight back to America. The must-watch bonus is the Split Screen segment that shows John discovering the theater. There's also a commentary track that features Steve James and Janet giving even more insight into the production and island life.

At the end of Reel Paradise, I felt that I had visited the Piersons in Fiji and didn't merely experience a terminally boring after-dinner slideshow. And unlike my parent's Jackson Hole videos, I've since forced my friends to see what John did on his year long vacation. -- Joe Corey