Although somewhat pre-empted by the BBC's Tenko, Paradise Road is nevertheless an engagingly poignant piece, with plenty of moments of emotional tension.
Glenn Close heads a fine ensemble cast as the patriarch of a group of women imprisoned by the Japanese during World War II. Stock scenes of bickering, bonding, torture and life-affirming courage are present and correct, but its based-on-a-true-story credentials ensure considerable emotional clout.
Unfortunately, with Driving Miss Daisy's Bruce Beresford at the wheel, proceedings are uncomfortably fettered with sentimentality, while Close is rather too twinklingly gung ho to be entirely plausible.