As I sat down to watch the 2022 thriller "Paradise Highway", I must admit that I was definitely harboring some expectations to writer and director Anno Gutto. Why? Well, because the movie had the likes of Morgan Freeman and Frank Grillo on the cast list, plus the synopsis sounded interesting as well.
And sure, "Paradise Highway" is watchable, but it was essentially just a run-of-the-mill rather generic and straight forward thriller. Writer and director Anna Gutto didn't really bring much of anything new or overly exciting to the genre. Don't get me wrong, because "Paradise Highway" is a watchable movie and sort of enjoyable enough. However, I was just expecting a tad more from the movie.
The storyline is straight forward and adequate enough, but the pacing of the narrative is somewhat mundane and slow paced, so while the movie is running at 115 minutes, if feels more like 175 minutes. If director Anna Gutto had upped the pacing of the narrative, then "Paradise Highway" would have been a whole different movie experience.
Now, I am not familiar with Cameron Monaghan, but she performed well in the leading role. And it was nice to see Morgan Freeman on the screen, though it was in a more leaned back sort of passive role though. And as for Frank Grillo, well he was hardly in the movie.
If you overly enjoy thrillers, then perhaps give "Paradise Highway" a chance, you might get a kick out of the storyline. I was only mildly entertained by what writer and director Anna Gutto delivered with "Paradise Highway".
My rating of "Paradise Highway" lands on a very bland five out of ten stars. The movie simply lacked thrilling contents. While having sat through the movie once, this is not a movie that I will be returning to a second time, simply because it doesn't have the contents to support a second viewing.
