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Take a walk through paradise.

A 1995 Period Romantic drama directed by Alfonso Arau that follows a married soldier (Keanu Reeves) named Paul Sutton posing as a pregnant woman's (Aitana Sanchez Gijon) husband (Victoria) to protect her from her father's (Giancarlo Giannini) wrath.

The movie also stars Anthony Quinn, Angelica Aragon, Evangelina Elizondo, Freddy Rodriguez, Debra Messing, Roberto Huerta, Don Amendolia, Gregory Paul Martin, Mary Pat Gleason, Febronio Covarrubias, and Juan Jimenez.

It was released on May 27, 1995 in Japan and August 11, 1995 in the US.


Tropes for the film:

  • Absence Makes the Heart Go Yonder: Painfully for Paul, his wife (played by Debra Messing, of all people) never read the letters he sent her when he was in the war and after he leaves the vineyard, he comes home to find she's also been cheating on him. However, he's such a Nice Guy that he doesn't berate her and accepts the end of their marriage with grace, as this now leaves him free to pursue Victoria, whom he's now fallen in love with. The two part ways amicably.
  • Alliterative Name: Alberto Aragon.
  • Alone Among Families: Paul reveals he is an orphan, which Alberto then uses as yet another reason he is "unfit" to marry his daughter. The Aragon family has very deep roots and know their ancestry, which makes Alberto sneer at Paul for not knowing who his parents are even though it obviously isn't within his control. Alberto's sneering actually upsets Paul enough to leave the dinner table and a furious Victoria follows him, shaming her father for saying such ugly things to someone who is already hurting. The rest of the family are also very upset with Alberto for mocking Paul for being an orphan. Fortunately, Alberto comes around when he realizes Paul is a good person who truly loves his daughter and he candidly tells Paul they are now his family at the end.
  • Big Damn Kiss: After Paul and Victoria are at the grape stomping event, they race back to their room and kiss passionately. They almost make love, but Paul comes to his senses and doesn't go through with it since he's married. Victoria is heartbroken, but respects his wishes.
  • Big Fancy House: Victoria's family lives in an absolutely beautiful vineyard with an enormous hacienda where most of them live together.
  • Catapult Nightmare: Poor Paul is having serious Post Traumatic Stress Disorder after returning home from World War II and has one of these while at the vineyard. Victoria gently calms him down after the nightmare. It's one of the first intimate moments between them.
  • Chekhov's Gun / Chekhov's Gunman: Alberto has gotten drunk after finding out that Paul and Victoria lied to him, so when Paul returns for Victoria, confessing he fell in love with her for real, the enraged Alberto tries to fight him and drag him off the vineyard. He then knocks over a lantern in his rage and sets fire to the entire crop. Fortunately, Don Pedro, Alberto's father in law who took a liking to Paul, had told him about the very first root of Las Luvas, and he brings it to Alberto and he confirms it was not consumed by the fire, meaning they can replant the entire crop over time, so the vineyard will survive.
  • Cool Old Guy: Don Pedro is delightful. He takes a liking to Paul almost immediately and shows him around, even helping him woo Victoria.
  • Don't Tell Mama: A subversion. Victoria got knocked up by one of her instructors and is terrified to return home pregnant for fear of what her overbearing father will do to her. Paul takes pity and decides to come up with a plan: they'll pretend to have fallen in love and gotten married and he comes to meet them, then they will pretend they broke up after he leaves so that she's spared the humiliation of telling them the truth.
  • Drowning My Sorrows: After Victoria tells her father the truth, he flies into a rage as badly as she feared and can only cope by drinking copious amounts of wine. Unfortunately, being drunk makes him even more violent as he actually assaults Paul when the latter returns to win Victoria back. His irrational hatred costs him everything, too—he knocks over a lantern and burns the entire vineyard to the ground.
  • Empty Nest: What exacerbates Victoria's father's aggressive dislike of Paul. Victoria and her brother are grown and have left home to gain their education, but he wants them home working on the vineyard, believing strongly in family tradition. He doesn't want to admit he misses them both.
  • Family Business: Victoria's family runs a beautiful vineyard and her father is everyone's boss. He wants her and her brother to follow in his footsteps, but both of them enjoy their independence.
  • Gratuitous Spanish: Naturally, since 99% of the cast is Hispanic or Latin, there is a lot spoken aloud.
  • Head-Turning Beauty: The first thing that Paul notices about Victoria when they bump into each other is her utter beauty. In fact, it's what kicks off the plot; two men start harassing her and cat-calling her, so Paul confronts them. It results in a small scuffle and so the bus driver kicks all three men off the bus for fighting. Paul later bumps into Victoria at her stop and she apologizes profusely, then they walk along and she explains her unfortunate situation to him.
  • Intergenerational Friendship: Don Pedro, Alberto's father, takes a huge liking to Paul almost instantly, bonding with him over music and chocolate. He even helps Paul win Victoria's heart back after she seems to reject him for a while out of fear.
  • Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Alberto. He is rigid, rude, and uncompromising for the entire film until the third act when he gets drunk and accidentally starts a fire that burns the entire vineyard down. But fortunately, Paul's quick thinking about the very first vine that is preserved on the hilltop survived the fire, meaning they can plant it and regrow the whole crop over time. They're all so happy they weep and embrace, and Alberto finally accepts and forgives Paul and Victoria for lying to him.
  • Liar Revealed: Victoria does eventually come clean with the truth and Alberto becomes just as enraged as she thought he would, attempting to run off Paul and getting drunk and accidentally setting fire to the entire vineyard. It's only by Paul's quick thinking that they salvage the vineyard.
  • Love-Obstructing Parents: Alberto absolutely despises Paul and does his very best to drive him out even though it's clear he adores Victoria. However, it does come from a place of love. See Papa Wolf below. His wife, however, is much kinder and accepts Paul warmly even though she's surprised.
  • Maligned Mixed Marriage: Victoria's father Alberto is livid that she picked a biracial white and Asian-American man for her husband and is (to his knowledge, anyway) furious she's pregnant with his child. He is rather anti-American, but understandably so given the time period.
  • Meet Cute: Paul and Victoria meet on a train, then a bus. He's about to be off selling chocolates while she's about to return home to face her angry father.
  • Meet the In-Laws: The plot of the film is Paul pretending to be Victoria's husband meeting the new in-laws, so that way she can cover for being pregnant by one of her professors, who was a louse and dumped her once he found out. This will, in theory, spare her from her father's wrath, which Paul is willing to do since he's a sweet Nice Guy.
  • Old-Fashioned Fruit Stomping: The Aragon family run a very traditional vineyard, with grapes being crushed underfoot by the married women of the family dancing on them. Victoria is excited to participate, even though Paul is hesitant at first because their marriage is a pretense. However, they end up having a wonderful time and there is an Almost Kiss that is followed by an actual kiss.
  • Papa Wolf: Alberto. His entire family is terrified of him, and for good reason, as he flies off the handle into rage when provoked, but is not particularly abusive, just mean. However, it is shown that he loves everyone in his family deeply and wants what's best for them; he just can't seem to keep his temper in check and is especially overprotective of Victoria.
  • Period Piece: Takes place in 1945 in the aftermath of WWII.
  • Real Men Hate Affection: Alberto's main problem. It's very clear he loves his family, but he doesn't like to show them affection and it causes rifts between him and his family members. Fortunately, he gets better by the end.
  • Rom Com: It's definitely leaning more towards drama than comedy, but there are plenty of sweet, funny scenes mixed in with the drama.
  • Running Gag: Victoria's Grandpa pilfering Paul's chocolates, which he is supposed to sell. By the end of the visit, he's literally eaten them all.
    • People noting that Paul's military jacket smells awful. It's because Victoria was having morning sickness and accidentally threw up on him when they were on the train. It was only a little bit, but vomit really does stink, after all.
  • The Remake: of the 1945 movie Four Steps In The Clouds.
  • Shotgun Wedding: Not in-canon, but Paul and Victoria fake it like this is what happened with them to fool her parents and family.
  • Tagline: "A man in search. A woman in need. A story of fate".
  • Thicker Than Water: Alberto's feelings about his family and how they should follow orders.
  • Unresolved Sexual Tension: One night, a frost comes to the vineyard and so everyone has to race outside to warm the grapes or the crop will be destroyed. The method they accomplish this is with silk wings and bonfires that gently blow warm air on the grapes to prevent burning or stunting their growth. Victoria shows Paul how to properly warm the grapes, and she stands with her back to his front, and the sexual tension is so noticeable that even her father Alberto picks up on it when he sees them.
  • Your Tradition Is Not Mine: This is the central issue between Victoria and her father Alberto. He wants her to work at the vineyard and stay at home while she has aspirations of her own.


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