George Clooney and Julia Roberts have been friends for many years. They met during the filming of “Ocean’s Eleven” in the early 2000s and continue to have a great relationship to this day. At the same time, fans and journalists regularly suspect them of being in a romantic relationship, and Clooney and Roberts themselves only tease everyone on this ground, actively flirting with each other during pre-events. In the romantic comedy “Ticket to Paradise”, they generally play a former couple who united after many years of mutual hatred in order to disrupt their daughter’s wedding. We tell you in the review below how exactly the film turned out.
“Ticket to Paradise” / Ticket to Paradise
Genre romantic comedy
Directed by Al Parker
Starring George Clooney, Julia Roberts, Billie Lourd, Caitlin Deaver, Maxim Boutier
Premiere cinemas
Release year 2022
IMDb site
Once upon a time, David (George Clooney) and Georgia (Julia Roberts) lived happily together, united by their love for each other and their daughter Lily (Caitlin Deaver). But after five years of marriage, love passed, leaving only enmity. David and Georgia parted ways. 19 years later, they meet again during Lily’s law degree and to take her daughter and her friend Wren (Billie Lourd) on a trip to Bali. However, there Lily falls in love with a local boy Guede (Maxim Boutier) and even decides to marry him. That’s why David and Georgia fly to Bali in an emergency together to disrupt the wedding and prevent Lily from exchanging a career as a lawyer for a life full of dubious prospects on the other side of the world.
When evaluating “Ticket to Paradise”, the main thing is to immediately understand that the film does not even try to offer something new or somehow surprise. It takes a not-quite-beaten-but-still-familiar concept and then develops it in such a way that all the script moves are obvious at first. At the first minutes of viewing, you already understand how the plot will end.
However, in the case of this particular film, such predictability should not immediately be written down as outright negatives. “Ticket to Paradise” is made precisely in order to give a feeling of a pleasant development of all events and general comfort. At the same time, warming the audience with views of the sunny islands of Bali, which is very appropriate for this sharply approaching autumn.
The main advantage of “Ticket to Paradise” is the acting duo of Clooney and Roberts. Although both are old, they are still a pleasure to watch, and they play every scene with a huge charge of energy. And let some scenes with them look a bit cringeworthy, but even such emotions fit into the general tone of the film. After all, we are talking about a rather eccentric couple in age.
But with other characters in the movie, everything faded. They are too flat and fit into stereotypes familiar to everyone. A clever daughter, a free-spirited girlfriend, an ideal boyfriend from another country, a naive bachelor – don’t expect any discoveries from them. All the other characters in the film seem to be needed only to somehow develop and emphasize the characters of David and Georgia.
Numerous curious situations that develop taking into account the aesthetics of Bali are aimed at this. Like being bitten by a poisonous snake or swimming in the ocean with dolphins. Again, these are all predictable moments found in dozens of other films. And they are drawn primarily by the charm of Clooney and Roberts.
Their acting saves even the local humor, which, frankly, seems to be aimed exclusively at the audience of undemanding romantic comedies. Jokes here do not take into account the actual world context, do not try to enter the territory of even a few hot topics and are generally as safe as possible. However, judging by the laughter during the screening, this guy has his fans — and quite a few of them.
Probably, in such people, the film caused only positive emotions in general. And that, perhaps, is the main value of “Ticket to Paradise”. It does not burden the mind at all and gives too warm, almost family feelings. In times of trouble, such stories seem especially valuable.
But if you are looking for at least some claims and meanings from the cinema, then “Ticket to Paradise” will seem too boring and flat to you. Because, in fact, he is. After all, no matter how good the main actors are, you cannot build the entire film on them.
Pros: excellent acting by Clooney and Roberts, beautiful sunny Bali locations Cons: general predictability of everything, lack of interesting ideas and meaning, bland secondary characters Conclusion:
“Ticket to Paradise” is designed for a specific category of lovers of romantic comedies without unnecessary pretensions – and for them this film will be almost ideal. But if you judge it with an adequate, unadorned view, there is nothing remarkable about it, except for the chemistry between Clooney and Roberts. It’s better to watch something like this in company, and preferably with your significant other, whom you’ve known for many years
