Julia Roberts is romantic comedy royalty, but according to George Clooney – he hasn’t done one since 1996 with One Fine Day and has yet to succeed in the genre. Not to pick a fight with the guy, but did he forget he did the Coen brothers’ Intolerable Cruelty? In any case, he’s ready to get back in the rom-com game with Ticket to Paradise and his good pal Roberts is there to lend a helping hand. This isn’t their first rodeo together, so to no one’s surprise their combined star power, charm and chemistry is unparalleled. Put them in beautiful Bali and co-writer/director Ol Parker (Momma Mia! Here We Go Again) is counting on his movie to coast from there. To a large extent, it does exactly that.
David (Clooney) and Georgia (Roberts) have been divorced for over twenty years and acting amicable isn’t in their repertoire. And while they enjoy bruising each other’s ego with back and forth banter, they must work together to conspire in putting a halt to their daughter Lily’s (Kaitlyn Dever) sudden wedding. Lily and her best friend Wren (Billie Lourd) go to Bali for a little vacay after graduating high school. It’s there Lily meets Gede (Maxime Bouttier), a local seaweed farmer who comes to her rescue while stranded in the ocean. They quickly fall in love and are ready to tie the knot with only a couple of months of knowing each other.
Obviously, David and Georgia finding out their daughter is staying in Bali and marrying a stranger scares the hell out of them. Like all parents, they don’t want her to throw her life away over a boy and repeat the same mistakes they made. Lily’s mom and dad have to be in lockstep until their mission is accomplished and Lily comes back home with them. It’s all in the name of love for Georgia and David, yet it just so happens they might have a chance to leave paradise better than when they arrived if they seize the gift of second chances. Maybe it’s finally the right time, the right place and the right circumstances.
When it comes to Ticket to Paradise – it’s all been done before. It’s safe to assume that without Roberts and Clooney, this wouldn’t get the release it’s receiving. Still, that’s the beauty of movie stars. These two old pros are as natural as can be with each other, which is precisely why audiences will eat it up. Additionally, it doesn’t hurt that their talents somewhat distract from a very predictable, unrealistic story and a weak, cheesy script that leaves a lot of laughs on the table.
There’s a fair share of setbacks from Parker and crew, including Lily and Gede’s relationship feeling rushed and inauthentic as well as Georgia’s younger French boyfriend, Paul (Lucas Bravo), seeming to be an unnecessary inclusion that if removed wouldn’t have made much difference. Then there’s the whole forgetting of Wren in the second half after having the funniest moments during the first. More Lourd is never the wrong move.
Though, with beauty at every turn thanks to the gorgeous location, Roberts and Clooney never let us down. Ticket to Paradise is always its liveliest when they are on screen. Their rekindling is handled better than anything else and feels the most genuine. They each take part in the movie’s sincerest scenes while coming close to offsetting the sillier ones. It’s an overall fun, care-free time that has a winning combo with its two appealing leads doing what they do best.
Brandon Vick is a member of The Music City Film Critics’ Association and the Southeastern Film Critics Association, the resident film critic of the SoBros Network, and the star of The Vick’s Flicks Podcast. Follow him on Twitter @SirBrandonV and be sure to search #VicksFlicks for all of his latest movie reviews.
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