Description: A truck driver, who will do anything to free her brother from the hated prison gang, gets trapped in a quandary when she’s stuck with a girl who is the victim of a huge human trafficking fraud.
Reviews: Sally’s (Juliette Binoche) life is all about the road, where she drives deliveries in her enormous trailer, as well as talking to her fellow trucker gals via video calls. As a trucker, she makes a living at the only thing she does in life is connected to their brother Dennis (Frank Grillo) who has her in suspicious delivery work. However, Sally is unaware of the fact that Sally realize that her most recent delivery is for a little child Leila (Hala Finley) who has been taken hostage by a mafia of human traffickers. In a battle between her desire to help the girl, and to finish the task to save her son, Sally is forced to take some tough choices that might not lead to a happy conclusion.
If you’re blessed with Academy Award winning actors like Juliette Binoche and Morgan Freeman as Gerick, the intelligent former FBI consultant Gerick You can expect an action film that is full of expectations. In the opening one-half hour or at least, Norwegian writer-director Anna Gutto clearly demonstrates that the road film is likely to become a long-winded tale of human relationships that scratch at the surface of sinister crime that has always plagued this US transport industry. Gutto utilizes the setup effectively to tell her story of love and friendship between siblings which is told through Sally’s eyes. We get to see interiors inside of truck as well as trailers, and how truckers make their vehicles their home , and the roads their destination. Beyond that the experience of the film does not offer anything you’ve never experienced before.
A film that’s marketed as an action thriller, ‘Paradise Road does a poor job of offering any excitement at all. Although the script is a bit erratic but it never reaches the level of excitement even at the final moments. Furthermore, it doesn’t end with the emotional closure that we’ve come to expect.
Binoche proudly reveals her role of the tired-looking trucker woman and is able to get rough on the highways. Her stoic attitude and no-nonsense policy is a dark main theme that tackles the dark topic that is child trafficking, but in a sloppy manner that is a bit of a joke. Grillo and Freeman both seem a little sloppy in their roles, which are constrained in every way. Hala Finley happens to be the sole person who has a certain arch to work from and transforms from a fearful, naive and screaming pre-teen to someone who grows because of the circumstances and all odds that are stacked against her.
With a strong cast and a captivating theme this film certainly had the potential to make for an engaging experience to. “Paradise Highway” chooses to take the less traveled route however it doesn’t bring the journey to the viewers.