Paradise claims to be the story of young woman's crisis of faith and subsequent rebirth, but in execution, it feels more like a story about someone who was in a bad mood for a while but eventually got over it.

| Feb 16, 2021

Frustrating in its incredible lack of authenticity or genuine emotion, Paradise is a lamb best left to slaughter.

| Aug 29, 2019

Cody remains a singular voice for complex characters we don't often see onscreen, steadfast and smart, if usually way out of their depth.

| Nov 30, 2018

Heavy-handed, predictable and often offensive in its treatment of certain characters, Paradise is a major misfire for Cody.

| Jan 18, 2018

Add Paradise to the list of Juno copycats as it takes Cody's own clichd, heightened reality and unabashedly tries way too hard in doing so.

| Original Score: C- | Jun 22, 2016

Paradise is far from a bad start, but it's not the introduction Cody was probably capable of making.

| Original Score: C | Aug 10, 2014

...a middling (yet watchable) vibe...

| Original Score: 2.5/4 | Nov 26, 2013

"Paradise" is a very bland and forgettable film, which is not something you expect from Diablo Cody even on her bad days.

| Original Score: 2/5 | Nov 11, 2013

An eminently compelling slice-of-life made all the more enjoyable by Julianne Hough's irresistible turn as the sympathetic, multi-shaded Lamb.

| Original Score: 3/4 | Nov 7, 2013

To me, a film about Las Vegas should never be boring. And that's what disappoints me most about 'Paradise.'

| Nov 2, 2013

Savagely satirizing evangelical culture while pretty much not substituting anything else - unless you count Vegas as the proposed cure in question - in Juno screenwriter Diablo Cody's directing debut. In other words, sorry Paradise, you're no Juno.

| Oct 26, 2013

Wild Vegas night of drinking, self-discovery is so-so.

| Original Score: 2/5 | Oct 25, 2013

Cody's fresh coming-of-age story keeps pulling back from blossoming into something a bit magical.

| Original Score: 6.2/10 | Oct 24, 2013

The movie goes nowhere, and Ms. Cody's screenplay is relentlessly talky while standing still.

| Original Score: 2/4 | Oct 23, 2013

Hough sleepwalks through Cody's worst effort to date as a writer and only supporting turns by the always-game Russell Brand and never-bad Octavia Spencer save the film from being a strong candidate for the worst of the year. It still comes close.

| Original Score: 1.0/5.0 | Oct 21, 2013

An intriguing premise, but the execution is a bit faulty, and it doesn't ultimately add up to much.

| Original Score: 2/5 | Oct 21, 2013

Julianne Hough and Octavia Spencer give it their all, but uncharacteristically dismal writing from Diablo Cody leaves Paradise dead in the water.

| Original Score: 2/10 | Oct 19, 2013

Paradise may be a movie paved with good intentions, but between its meandering nature, surface exploration of religion and roster of forgettable characters, it's more like motion-picture perdition.

| Original Score: 1.5/4 | Oct 19, 2013

Diablo Cody has a new movie... but you'd hardly know it was her work, for all the bite it lacks.

| Oct 18, 2013

Diablo Cody should've written a better script for her directing debut, or at least used her Oscar-winning instincts to not choose this one... isn't in the same snarky-lark league as Juno, nor as comically raw as Young Adult.

| Original Score: C- | Oct 18, 2013