Welcome to Paradise

When big-city preacher Debbie Laramie (Crystal Bernard) moves to the small town of Paradise with her son Hayden (Bobby Edner), she finds the local community unreceptive to her message of love and forgiveness. Determined to get through to her stubborn congregation, Debbie uses unique methods to shake the churchgoers out of their indifference, such as inviting a homeless man to sing during one of the services. Brian Dennehy co-stars.

**_Contending with strains of legalism in a small Southern hamlet_** A female minister from Dallas (Crystal Bernard) is “exiled” to a town a few hours south of the city to pastor a rural assembly. Will she be accepted? Will she be successful? Will her reluctant son adapt to life in “Hickville”? “Welcome to Paradise” (2007) is a drama involving Christians in a small Texas community, centering around the believers of a local fellowship, their new pastor, and her son adjusting to a new home and school. It only cost $500,000 so you have to have mercy. It understandably has the typical issues of low-budget productions, like questionable acting by some of the no-name peripherals and dubious geography that doesn’t resemble northeast Texas (but rather SoCal). Yet the flick has heart and that’s the most important thing. I like how this isn’t just a tale concerning the challenges of a female pastor, but also a coming-of-age story of her son, as well as a tale of redemption for believers in general who’ve fallen into one pit or another, whether legalism, charlatanism, homelessness or what have you. Then there’s the interesting commentary on the practical realities of ministry: It costs money to have a church facility and pay the perpetual bills, which means the ministry depends on generous people who have money in order to exist. If those givers are offended and leave, how will the bills get paid? You’ll have to set-up shop in a barn or whatever. The proceedings perk up whenever inimitable Brian Dennehy is present. Meanwhile William Shockley is effective as the amiable coach, who befriends the teen. At the end of the day, The flick's honest, warmhearted and even amusing, despite it's obvious shortcomings. The movie runs 1 hour, 50 minutes, and was shot in the Los Angeles area, including Santa Clarita, which is 30 miles north of the city (for the new church and country club scenes), and Torrance, which is just south of the city (the high school scenes). I heard the conventional church was located in Los Angeles. GRADE: B-