Elijah in Paradise

Paradise

Cast
Elijah Wood....Willard Young
Melanie Griffith .... Lily Reed
Don Johnson .... Ben Reed
Thora Birch .... Billie Pike
Sheila McCarthy .... Sally Pike
Eve Gordon .... Rosemary Young


Mary Agnes Donoghue's 1991 Paradise was the first movie where Elijah was used in a leading role as the ten year old Willard Young. Having been cast alongside the likes of Melanie Griffith, Thora Birch, and Don Johnson, this was the first movie to showecase Elijah's sensetivity and depth and also allowed him to show his ability to handle the responsibility of a lead character.
The movie begins with Elijah's character, Willard, getting off of school for the summer at a prestigious looking elementary school in the city. The movie immediately establishes Willard as a smart or intelligent child who does not have many friends. The first few scenes at the school allows the audience to see the isolation and rejection that Willard feels and faces from other children his age. We can see that Willard is slightly intimidated by those around him, and as Willard heads home after school, he stops to watch some kids playing ball and gets chased from the premises. He soon finds out that his pregnant mother is sending him to a small town called Paradise to stay with her best friend, Lily Reed (Melanie Griffith's character) for the summer. Willard sees this act as his mother's way of trying to get him out of the way because she doesn't want him around. What he doesn't know is that his mother suspects that his father (who Willard is led to believe to be on sea duty) is cheating on her. In an attempt to straighten out the issues with her husband, Willard's mother sends him away to stay with the quietly sad, but sweet, Lily Reed.
Upon arrival in the sleepy little town called Paradise in the Delta shrimp-fishing area, Willard walks into a country restaurant to ask for directions to Lily's house. He is greeted by a gruff character who gives him directions and the foreboding warning that all is not well at the Reed house and that he hopes Willard's visit with Lily is a brief one. Once at Lily's house while his mother and Lily talk, Willard wanders off and meets the tomboy Billie Pike, played by a very young Thora Birch. They talk for a while and when Billie asks Willard what he wants to do, he says nothing and tells her to leave him alone until she asks him if he wants to see her older sister naked. He then consents since there is nothing better or more interesting to do. Later that same day, the brooding man from the restaurant who had given Willard directions, shows up at Lily's and Willard tells him that his mother had warned him to stay away from him because of what he had said about Lily. The man tells Willard that his mother is right, but then reveals that he lives there too, which introduces him to the audience as Ben Reed, Lily's husband. It is evident that Willard is not too pleased with the news, but he stays quiet. Although, when Willard is left alone at Lily's for the summer, he looks a little forlorn at first, but what he then sees as abandonment, eventually becomes a blessing for him and those around him.
Willard and Billie become fast friends and they spend their summer playing together and having adventures. Billie is a strong willed and independent nine year old girl who shows Willard how to be comfortable with who he is. At times, Billie pushes Willard too hard and he gets angry, but ultimately, they make up and remain friends. The two kids together make an odd pair as friends since they are total opposites, but we see how much their relationship benefits both of them and how they care for each other. Billie likes to take risks and is a bit of a show off, while on the other hand, Willard is quiet, timid, and a bit unsure.
Billie comes from a home where her sister is her half sister from one of her mother’s many relationships, and her mother is a somewhat morally loose, single mom working at the town’s restaurant. Billie has never met her father who, she has been told, is a famous roller skating performer.
One afternoon, Billie and Willard meet up, and the characteristically tomboyish Billie is decked out in white lace from head to toe as she and Willard head out to find Billie’s dad. They hop on a bus and head out of town to the roller rink where her father performs and gives lessons. Billie and Willard skate around for what seems like hours while waiting for her father to appear. Then, finally the rink is cleared of skaters so that the lessons can begin. Her father comes out and Billie skates up to him and asks him if he knows who she is. He impatiently tells her to get off the floor so that he can give lessons, and she tells him that she is his daughter and she gives her mother's name. Recognition of her mother’s name flashes across his face, but he gruffly brushes her off and ignores her and she is forced to leave. Her disappointment and hurt is obvious as she rips her lacy headband off and throws it on the ground. Willard does not know how to comfort her and instead follows her back to Paradise and to the restaurant where her mom works. Billie bursts into tears, and while her mother attempts to console her, Willard quietly slips away. Earlier in the movie, when Willard and Billie first meet, we see the show-off in Billie come out when they are up on a tall lookout tower as Billie climbs up onto the railing and walks and balances around the ledge. When she jumps down, she dares him to do the same, but a frightened Willard refuses.
During her mom’s birthday party, Billie lashes out at her mom and her boyfriend when they announce that they are going to be getting married. Billie yells “Why? You don’t even love him”, then runs off into the dark woods. Willard finds her in one of the trees and asks her why she’s so upset. Billie angrily snaps at Willard and tells him that she overheard his mom talking to Lily about his dad, and that his dad is not coming back. This upsets Willard and he runs off too. Both kids disappear during the night and all of the adults are worried and out searching for them. Billie feels guilty about what she had said to Willard, so she sets out in the middle of the night to find him. Eventually, she stops and falls asleep beside a tree and then shows up at the Reed’s the next morning where her mother greets her with relief. When they finally find Willard, he is up on the watch tower, and Ben goes up to bring him down. While Ben is on his way up the ladder, Willard climbs up on the ledge and makes his way precariously around the railing just like Billie had done. We can see that he is terrified, and it seems as if he is going to fall at any moment, but Ben makes it over to him and catches him right as Willard is about to tumble over the edge. Later, when questioned about why he tried to walk the railing, Willard tells Lily that he felt that since it scared him so much, that maybe if he did something that really scared him, nothing would scare him anymore.
Melanie Griffith's character, Lily Reed, is a very sweet, soft spoken, sensitive, and sad woman who takes Willard in for the summer. She seems to have some deep sadness she is struggling with during the beginning of the film until we find out that her's and Ben's three year baby boy had died. There is a distance and friction between Lily and Ben and is evident that there are problems in their marraige. Later we find out in a confrontation between Ben and Lily that she feels responsible for their son's death and she can't be happy because of the guilt. Towards the beginning of the movie, it seems as if Ben is just being cruel and indifferent towards her, but later we see how his efforts to be affectionate and caring are not accepted by Lily. The tragedy of the death of their baby seems to be the cause of their continuing estrangement. The pressure and sadness is too much. We see Ben gradually warm up and become more open due to Willard's presence in their home, and we see him making more of an effort to reach out to Lily with love and affection. Ben even takes Willard to work with him on his shrimping boat and it is obvious that Ben enjoys having Willard around.

Both Lily and Ben love having Willard in their home and it seems as if they want to imagine that he is their own son. Ben takes Willard fishing and opens up to him about memories and life and their conversation seems like the kind a father and son might have. Willard brings some life and light back into Ben and Lily's life through his quiet and open personality. Willard is there to help Lily with laundry and also there to fly a plane with Ben. One night when Willard gets back from his day out with Ben, he is so tired that he falls asleep before he can put his pyjamas and Lily tries to help him out. Willard puts his head in her lap and sleeps while Lily looks at him lovingly. In that moment, it shows how much Lily wants a son or even a child as we can see that she is imagining him as her son.
Even with Willard's help, Lily is not able to let go of her grief and let go and ultimately, Lily's sadness becomes too unbearable for Ben to continue living with and he makes a decision to live on his shrimping boat. Lily misses Ben terribly, but she doesn't think she could ask him to come back. Willard continues to spend time with both adults and eventually helps them realize how much they need each other and the ultimately reconcile at the end and it seems that they can finally begin anew and have a family again.
The movie is sweet and touching, but it seems to drag at times and is longer than it needs to be. The same story could have perhaps been told in a shorter, more succint manner, but the movie as a whole still works nicely and is visually quite stunning.
Elijah's performance as young Willard is definately good and touching. Perhaps my only criticism would be that the dialogue with Thora Birch during their first few scenes together seem a little labored and unnatural and he looks somewhat self conscious. But the kinks soon iron out and as the movie progresses, we can see Elijah really settling into the role and figuring out the complexities of Willard's character. Melanie Griffith and Don Johnson, who were married during that time, both give strong performances and Thora Birch does a great job as the spunky Billie Pike. Elijah is still coming into his own as an actor and we can see him stretching his wings a bit in his role as Willard. As the movie progresses, Elijah becomes more and more believable and loveable in his role, and he shows how capeable he is at handling bigger roles even at such a young age.