Film Review: A Week in Paradise

STUDIO: Screen Media | DIRECTOR: Philippe Martinez | CAST: Malin Ackerman, Connie Nielsen, Philip Winchester, Jack Donnelly
THEATRICAL/ON DEMAND RELEASE DATE: Feb. 11, 2022
SPECS: PG-13 | 95 min. | Romantic comedy

RATINGS (out of 5 dishes): Movie  

If you are looking for escapist fare that transports you to pristine tropical beaches, that’s about all you’ll get from A Weekend in Paradise, the new paint-by-numbers romantic comedy that has arrived in time for Valentine’s Day weekend.

Malin Akerman and Connie Nielsen in A Week in Paradise.

Maggie (Malin Akerman, The Final Girls) is a famous actress who learns, through the gossip pages, that her equally famous director husband has been cheating on her with his leading lady, who is also carrying his child. With her marriage crumbling before the eyes of millions, she escapes to the Caribbean to stay at her cousin Fiona’s (Connie Nielsen, Wonder Woman) secluded resort. Upon meeting the resort’s handsome chef Sam (Philip Winchester, Flyboys), Maggie’s heart begins to heal but her past isn’t that far behind her.

Any regular filmgoer can guess what happens next and that’s not necessarily a bad thing. Audiences often look for content that they will find familiar and comforting – formulas work for a reason. However, even a fictional chef like Sam would tell you there has to be some meat on them bones. Unfortunately, A Week in Paradise is all skeleton. The film lacks all of the typical ingredients a rom-com needs to sizzle – energy, emotion, conflict and comedy all mixed with a huge cup of hot and sexy romance. Kate Wood’s (Miss Willoughby and the Haunted Bookshop) script is drab and full of stilted dialogue and Philippe Martinez’s (One Year Off) plodding direction slows the film’s already deadened pace.

With basically no character development, the actors aren’t given much to work with. Maggie’s only character trait is being a well-known actress and Nielson finds herself endlessly repeating variations on “The island will heal you….” Akerman and Winchester have a bit of chemistry, but their romance is as bland as a saltine cracker. Winchester smartly leans into his inherent charm and with that, gives the film its only real signs of life.