★½☆☆☆
30 August 2011
This article is a review of A SPANKING IN PARADISE. |
"What type of business are they in?" Jeff Firestone
How do you make boring film about a lawyer working in a brothel? A SPANKING IN PARADISE could’ve been a comedy of manners or a caper; but it is poorly written, directed and shot. At least the movie doesn’t feel exploitative (there’s no nudity for instance), and doesn’t glamorise a dangerous and degrading way of life. It’s not pimps and bling, it’s dingy. Opening with Andrew Hawley’s Justin being interviewed for a United States visa to work as a human rights lawyer, a catalogue of legal and moral obligations are listed that Justin must not have contravened to be eligible. He’s clean so it’s approved, and has one month to kill while he waits for the paperwork to clear. So what does Justin do? He decides to work in his Uncle Rab’s brothel in Edinburgh. WTF! Justin’s a lawyer, he should know that position jeopardises both his eligibility to be a lawyer and his visa. Also, how can someone who appears to be genuine and decent (as the film progresses) work in an industry which is the antithesis of his dream job? This straight away doesn’t make any sense. Uncle Rab attempts to justify his ‘Birds of Paradise Sauna’, but his right-hand man Leo routinely mistreats the women that work there creating an oppressive atmosphere for them.
How do you make boring film about a lawyer working in a brothel? A SPANKING IN PARADISE could’ve been a comedy of manners or a caper; but it is poorly written, directed and shot. At least the movie doesn’t feel exploitative (there’s no nudity for instance), and doesn’t glamorise a dangerous and degrading way of life. It’s not pimps and bling, it’s dingy. Opening with Andrew Hawley’s Justin being interviewed for a United States visa to work as a human rights lawyer, a catalogue of legal and moral obligations are listed that Justin must not have contravened to be eligible. He’s clean so it’s approved, and has one month to kill while he waits for the paperwork to clear. So what does Justin do? He decides to work in his Uncle Rab’s brothel in Edinburgh. WTF! Justin’s a lawyer, he should know that position jeopardises both his eligibility to be a lawyer and his visa. Also, how can someone who appears to be genuine and decent (as the film progresses) work in an industry which is the antithesis of his dream job? This straight away doesn’t make any sense. Uncle Rab attempts to justify his ‘Birds of Paradise Sauna’, but his right-hand man Leo routinely mistreats the women that work there creating an oppressive atmosphere for them.
A SPANKING IN PARADISE is meant to be a comedy, but I hardly laughed. The obvious budget limitations make the script the key, but Uncle Rab goes on these interminable monologue anecdotes, which are tedious and charmless. Then there’s a subplot involving a corrupt lawyer who has stolen from Rab. He doesn’t seem like a man to let that have happen. The story seems to be aiming for something different from the regular, and high-five for that, but it doesn’t deliver unfortunately.