Movie Review: Club Paradise (1986)

★★★★★

I didn’t expect to love Club Paradise, but it totally surprised me. Discovering it for the first time, I was drawn to the dry humor and beautiful beaches.

Michelle S.

Nebraska

When people talk about 1980s comedy legends, the names Robin Williams, Rick Moranis, Peter O’Toole, and Eugene Levy often float to the top. So it’s wild to think there’s a movie where they all share the screen, and yet Club Paradise still somehow ended up buried under the sand of forgotten beach comedies.

I revisited Club Paradise for BoxReview.com, partly out of nostalgia and partly because I’d heard so many mixed reviews over the years. What I found was a flawed but fascinating little film that aimed for laid-back satire and wound up somewhere between cult favorite and forgotten oddity.

If you’ve never seen it, or only vaguely remember the poster with Robin Williams in tropical gear, here’s your chance to give this sun-soaked screwball comedy a second look.

The Plot: Vacation Vibes with a Side of Real Estate Fraud

The story kicks off with Robin Williams playing Jack Moniker, a Chicago fireman who takes early retirement and moves to the fictional Caribbean island of St. Nicholas. Once there, he teams up with local entrepreneur Ernest Reed (Peter O’Toole) to open a resort, Club Paradise, aimed at sun-seeking American tourists. But between bureaucratic meddling, corporate greed, and the mismatched personalities of the guests, things go downhill fast.

You’ve got real estate scams, shady politicians, and clueless vacationers, all layered with the type of political satire that you probably wouldn’t expect from a beach movie.

And while the plot feels loose (and it is), it’s a comedy of situations more than a story, a kind of island Animal House, if the frat was made up of baby boomers on vacation.

Robin Williams Before He Was Robin Williams

One of the most overlooked aspects of Club Paradise is its place in Robin Williams’ career timeline. Released the same year as The Best of Times, this was before Good Morning, Vietnam would fully redefine his Hollywood presence.

In Club Paradise, he’s more subdued than usual, playing the straight man to a cast of zany characters. For longtime Williams fans, this might be jarring, but it’s also kind of refreshing. You see flashes of his improv brilliance, but there’s restraint here, likely due to Harold Ramis (the director) trying to ground the character.

Most reviews skip over how this movie marked a subtle turning point for Williams, the calm before his true comedic explosion.

Peter O’Toole, the Unsung MVP

Let’s talk about Peter O’Toole, who absolutely steals the movie. Cast as a charmingly alcoholic British expat who manages the club and narrates the absurdities around him, O’Toole is the unexpected highlight. He delivers every line like he’s both in on the joke and too dignified to explain it.

O’Toole reportedly wasn’t thrilled with the film’s production, but on-screen, he’s magnetic. His dry wit offers a sharp contrast to the manic energy around him and gives the movie a kind of anchored charm that many comedies of this era lack.

Moranis, Levy, and the SCTV Touch

If you’re a fan of SCTV-style comedy, the appearances of Rick Moranis and Eugene Levy as two perpetually stoned tourists are absolute gold. They’re not in every scene, but when they show up, they deliver that unique Canadian absurdity that helped shape 80s comedy.

What I love and what isn’t discussed enough is how their subplots work as a parallel commentary on American consumerism. They’re bumbling through paradise, missing the point entirely, and yet having the time of their lives. That contradiction? It’s the film’s most accurate portrayal of tourism, whether intentional or not.

The Satire Beneath the Surface

Club Paradise might look like a goofy island comedy, but there’s a surprising amount of social commentary baked in. It touches on colonialism, land exploitation, and even the commodification of culture for American tourists, all masked behind punchlines and palm trees.

That layer of satire is one of the reasons I think Club Paradise deserves more credit than it gets. It was released during the Reagan-era boom of tropical escapism (The Blue Lagoon, Cocktail, etc.), but where those films glamorized paradise, this one pokes at it. And that kind of self-awareness? Pretty rare in a film that also features weed jokes and limbo contests.

What Doesn’t Work

Of course, not everything clicks. The pacing is erratic, the romantic subplot is forgettable, and the tone shifts so often it’s easy to lose track of what kind of comedy you’re watching. The script, written by Harold Ramis and Brian Doyle-Murray, tries to juggle political satire, slapstick, and vacation humor, and not all of it lands.

The ensemble cast, while stacked with talent, doesn’t get enough room to shine. You’ll want more from Andrea Martin and Joanna Cassidy, who get stuck with underwritten roles.

Final Thoughts

Watching Club Paradise today is like opening a time capsule filled with Caribbean shirts, political jabs, and some of the ’80s most iconic comedic voices. It’s not a tight movie, but it has a unique energy that makes it stick in your mind, especially if you’re a fan of character-driven comedies with something unexpected to say.

At Box Review, we love digging up underrated films, and Club Paradise is exactly that: a messy, sun-drenched gem that deserves a little more love than it got in 1986. It may not be everyone’s cup of rum punch, but if you’re into offbeat ensemble comedies with a weirdly smart core, it’s worth the detour.

You won’t walk away quoting it endlessly, but you might just want to book a trip, rewatch some early Robin Williams, or simply pour a drink and enjoy a comedy that doesn’t take itself too seriously.