MOVIE REVIEW: TICKET TO PARADISE (PG-13)
To call the new romantic comedy “Ticket to Paradise” formulaic would be a gross understatement. It’s predictable beyond belief and not altogether as charming as I would have hoped, particularly given the affable nature of its stars. Part of the reason for the lack of charm is the fact that the lead characters in this movie are mean, childish, and selfish. But then, from the outset, I suppose that is sort of the point.
Superstars George Clooney and Julia Roberts star as David and Georgia–a divorced couple who can barely stand each other–who momentarily put aside their differences and work together in an effort to sabotage their daughter’s upcoming union with a genuinely kind seaweed farmer in a small Bali village after she leaves behind a potential future in law for the simple life with a man she’s only known for a couple of months. As expected, familiar hijinks ensue.
Clooney and Roberts are fine, here. They’re their usual charismatic selves and they are more than capable of playing up the whole “They-say-they-hate-each-other-but-we-know-they-really-love-each-other” schtick. Meanwhile, Kaitlyn Dever and Maxime Bouttier are cute and innocent as the adorable couple at the center of the film but again, this is all pretty surface-level stuff.
Elsewhere amongst the cast, we have Billie Lourd (the late Carrie Fisher’s daughter) as the obligatory best friend. While she’s a pretty good actress, her Wren Butler is so pointless as a character in “Ticket to Paradise” that I walked out of the movie wondering why she was even there in the first place. I mean, I suppose it could be argued that she’s simply there so that no one questions why Dever’s Lily would go to Bali alone but that’s barely an argument. Lourd isn’t even used sufficiently as a source of comic relief unless you find an early scene in which she tosses around a massive variety pack of condoms, funny. Wren is the very personification of “thankless role” and I felt sorry for Lourd because she’s a capable performer but again, she’s given virtually nothing to do here. Even a sweet-natured Sean Lynch, who appears as Georgia’s young and handsome jet-flying beau, is there to create a forum of inner turmoil and confusion for Georgia. No such luck for Lourd and that’s a shame.
There are things that I appreciated in “Ticket to Paradise.” I appreciated that Rob is a legitimately good guy and not some jerk with a hidden agenda. That said, at one point in this movie, I almost found him too forgiving.
I also appreciated that “Ticket to Paradise” didn’t go too broad with the comedy. The filmmakers wisely resist the temptation to give Georgia swollen lips after sucking snake venom from a man’s foot and likewise, no swollen nose after Georgia is accidentally headbutted before her daughter’s big wedding. Still, this is a pretty shallow movie overall. But then, what the heck do I know? The couples a few rows behind us were howling with laughter throughout large stretches of the movie so I’m willing to concede that I’m simply not the target audience.
Ultimately, not every film has to be high art, of course. There are certainly plenty of films out there that I love that aren’t exactly brimming with deep-rooted meaning and depth. At the end of the day, though, “Ticket to Paradise” is a film that’s headlined by a couple of monumentally likable movie stars that are barely permitted to be likable. What’s more, Clooney and Roberts are infinitely more engaging than the material they are working with here and that’s truly disappointing.
The true star in “Ticket to Paradise” is Bali! What a location! Looking at it, it’s easy to see why everyone signed on to this movie. After this film had come to a close I was quick to quote Liz Lemon of “30 Rock” fame;
“I want to go to there!”
Beyond that, I found “Ticket to Paradise” to be pretty forgettable. Harmless, inoffensive, and occasionally cute, but forgettable.
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