Welcome to Paradise (2007)

★ 6.8 1h 45m IMDb

Drama

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.

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Cast

Crystal Bernard as Debbie Laramie Age 64 · Garland, Texas, USA From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Height 5' 4" (1,63 m) Crystal Lynn Bernard (born September 30, 1961) is an American singer-songwriter and television and film actress, most widely known for...

Bobby Edner as Hayden Laramie Age 37 · Downey, California, USA Robert Charles Edner (born October 5, 1988) is an American actor, singer, and dancer. He was a member of the boy band called Varsity Fan Club..

Brian Dennehy as Bobby Brown Died 2020 · Bridgeport, Connecticut, USA Brian Manion Dennehy (July 9, 1938 – April 15, 2020) was an American actor of film, stage, and television. His breakthrough film role was as the overzealous sheriff Will Teasle in First Blood (1982)....

William Shockley as Kent Dylan Age 62 · Lawrence, Kansas, USA William Shockley (born September 17, 1963) is an actor and musician. Shockley was born in Lawrence, Kansas and found his love for music at the age of seven. He graduated from Texas Tech University wi...

Beth Grant as Frances Loren Age 76 · Gadsden, Alabama, USA Beth Grant (born September 18, 1949) is an American actress. She is known for often playing characters who are conservatives, religious zealots or sticklers for rules. She has appeared in dozens of f...

Ken Jenkins as Reverend McNamara Age 85 · Dayton, Ohio, USA Ken Jenkins (born August 28, 1940) is an American actor, best known for his role as Dr. Bob Kelso, the curmudgeonly Chief of Medicine on the American comedy Scrubs. In 1969, he co-founded the Actors...

Director Brent Huff

Cast Crystal Bernard, Bobby Edner, Brian Dennehy, William Shockley, Beth Grant, Ken Jenkins, Nick Searcy, Brad Stine, Danielle Dearing, Paul Ganus

Wuchak 6/10 Nov 16, 2023

**_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-