I accidentally watched this movie around four or five years ago on TV as I spent my time away searching for something to watch on a friends house in the Middle East. I wasn't even focusing much on the plot then or whatsoever though the few naked scenes which I had the luck of seeing first of all the other scenes kept me interested enough so as not to switch channels for a while. I found it not really my type then (because then I was just in my mid thirties?). What interested me more afterward as this movie rolled on was that the language spoken in the background (aside from English) and the scenery seemed to be all too familiar. I'm a Filipino and hey, they were speaking Tagalog and those were places and items from the Philippines..the beaches, the markets, the festivals, the foot-pedaled trikes, passenger jeepneys etc., etc... In particular I was puzzled by their depiction and use of the Taal volcano island on Taal lake which they seemed to call Lake Toba in the film. Well back then, I already had this grand illusion that such place is the most beautiful of all places in the world (and I did travel a lot worldwide). The movie at least jived with my opinion that that place is paradise literally (though of course as the monk has said we create our own paradises or we pursue our paradises in vain?). Anyway these days I searched again for this movie for another value since I turned 40. It really appealed to us mid-lifers- white or Asian perhaps. Enjoy watching- its about you if you are more like my age and male of course. Though of course I don't approve of the threesome. And I love Sheryl Lee, I wonder where she is now.

This film's underlying idea is about two middle-aged friends who find themselves in male menopause at the same time, and decide the thing to do is to change their lives completely. An interesting idea, but one that has been the basis of plenty of films. The thing is that they decide to do this by building themselves a large structure in the Philippines, where they can escape the outside world by means of sharing the attentions of one woman they both find attractive (of course, they swear they won't be jealous of each other, they are all just so damn spiritual), as well as the company of a dubious Zen Buddhist monk, played by Terence Stamp, who should have known better.Had the makers of this film treated their antics in a humorous way, this might have been an enjoyable romantic comedy. Instead, they treat the whole matter with ponderous earnestness, with the three main characters sprouting clichés of trivial spiritual `wisdom' right and left; one is taken aback by the possibility that the script writers actually took all this rubbish seriously. So, what could have been a pleasant film ends up as a ponderous, crashing bore.

A couple of whiny boomer guys p*** and moan about how horrible it is to have money and a great family, chuck it all for sex and drugs in some 3rd world hell hole, then wonder why it's not satisfying. Throw in some Philosophy 101 and a dash of Penthouse Forum and you get this mess of a movie. Yet, somehow, some way, it held my attention all the way through. So for that alone, it gets a 3.

I do not understand the rating for this one - I rated it an 8.My guess is that women will not enjoy this movie, not to mention men who only like movies with a lot of action or comedy. This movie is definitely a talk-fest, but if you are interested in philosophy (why am I here?), you should like this one.Men - I do not recommend watching this with your significant other. If you do, be prepared to say "I would never do that" and "I do not identify with these guys at all", otherwise, many arguments are predicted.