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Excellent but underrated film

Absolutely the worst movie.

It's fun, it's light, [but] it has a hard time when its tries to get heavy.

I like movies that are aware of what they are selling... without [any] greater aspirations than to make people laugh and that's it.

A problematic film to say the least. Of the only good aspects of the film is the accuracy with which it portrayed the experience of Japanese Americans in internment camps. It showed their confusion, loss of identity, and suffering in a very authentic way. However, it was completely ridiculous to create a film about such a shameful time in American history through the lens of a love story, especially one riddled with sexism and racial stereotypes. In my opinion, the middle of the movie is quite gripping, well-acted, and historically accurate. In all other areas, the film is unfortunately a flop. Topics of this significance should not be treated with such insensitivity.

This movie tells a story that often many Americans do not recall. When we think of camps, we usually think about how Americans were heroes who liberated Nazi camps during the second World War. However, this story lets you observe the many aspects of Japanese internment and how many American citizens were imprisoned by the way that they looked rather than for having committed a crime. I find the first half an hour or so unnecessary. You are introduced to a Japanese family and their business, and Dennis Quaid's character. His character is actually pretty unnecessary in the movie. He does not really contribute anything to the plot besides being married to a japanese girl. Of course, this was rather odd at the time since the Japanese were considered the enemy, but that is pretty much it in my opinion. The movie could have retold the exact same story and saved us about 45 minutes in telling us about Japanese internment without the use of his character. THis is not to say the movie is bad, but it is pretty long for no reason other than to include an american that you are supposed to be inclined into liking.

Yes, the American supreme court made a grave error in judgement when they ruled that the internment of Japanese Americans was legal under the U.S. Constitution. However, this film, Come See the Paradise, is (see apt title of this review) trash. While this film makes an obvious effort to highlight the widespread prejudice and violence against Japanese Americans in the mid-twentieth century, it relies on racial stereotypes and a pathetic love story. As a character, Jack/Dennis Quaid (one of the few white actors in the film) is completely unnecessary to the storyline, and makes leaves the impression that the story is only significant because it affects the life of a good ol' American boy. There is great potential in the concept of this film, but would need a new director/script/plotline and much less Dennis Quaid.

Come See the Paradise is another typical Hollywood depiction of a rarely mentioned event in America's complicated history. The movie does its job of creating an emotional reaction and one that makes you feel sympathy for the characters and their situation, but in terms of historical content there are some inconsistencies. My biggest question after watching this film is the necessity of including a love story amongst a topic that could constitute its own movie. In my opinion, the notion of holding people in a camp against their will should constitute enough emotion that a romantic interest is not necessary. Sure, the love story adds an aspect of intrigue and brings people to the movie by playing up the romantic storyline, but, in actually, the depicted relationship is wildly inaccurate in a historical sense. An interracial couple such as Lily and Jack would have had immensely more struggles in their daily lives. The fact that they just walked into a wedding as a couple and nobody said anything to them would have been highly, highly unlikely in the 1930's. Likewise, the couple would have had trouble procuring service at a restaurant, getting a hotel room and even going out in public without garnering some quizzical looks. I understand the necessity of including a love story for modern audiences, but to someone watching with the intent to analyze historical content this can be more of a distraction than a delight. I believe that the scenes taking place in the camp could have completely stood on their own without the appearance of Dennis Quaid's character. Conversely, the movie was fairly accurate with other historical details related to the life of the Kawamuras. The recreation of Little Tokyo was filled with impressive props and attention to detail. The reference to the Japanese Citizen's League, Question 26 concerning American loyalty and the No-No boys were a sight for weary eyes at that point in the movie. In the end, nothing can be done about the fact that, overall, this is a Hollywood production and the main goal of the movie is to put people in the audience. In terms of historical accuracies, there was good attention to detail in general, though the love story is an unnecessary aspect of the film. The main redeeming aspect of this film is that it spreads the story of Japanese internment to Hollywood's audiences, but why must this be done through an aspect of love? Isn't the narrative of life before, during and after internment enough to create a film worthy of Hollywood?