Ticket to Paradise

This old school, screwball rom-com contains few surprises and relies heavily on the charm of its two leads – but when those leads are Julia Roberts and George Clooney, it’s more than enough to carry a movie.

Premise: David (George Clooney) and Georgia Cotton (Julia Roberts) married young 25 years ago, but their marriage only lasted 5 years before they separated acrimoniously. When their daughter Lily (Kaitlyn Dever) gets engaged while on holiday in Bali after graduating college, David and Georgia agree to put their differences aside to fly out to Bali to prevent Lily from making the same mistake that they made.

Review:

This really is the definition of a ‘does what it says on the tin’ movie. If you’re not a fan of rom-coms, then this won’t be for you. Equally, if you’re looking for some subversive, post-modern reinvention of the rom-com genre (like how Knives Out reinvigorated the whodunnit genre), then this film isn’t for you. But if you’re up for an old school rom-com, powered by two of the biggest and most charismatic movie stars of the last three decades, which channels the spirit of the classic screwball comedies of Hollywood’s golden age, then you’ll probably have a smile on your face all the way through Ticket to Paradise.

Julia Roberts starred in two of my all-time favourite rom-coms, 1999’s Notting Hill and 1997’s My Best Friend's Wedding. George Clooney, meanwhile, is arguably one of the most suave and charismatic movie stars of the last half-century, and you can’t take your eyes off him in films like 2001’s Ocean's Eleven. He also starred in two of my all-time favourite movies, 1996’s From Dusk Til Dawn and 1998’s Out of Sight (which isn’t a rom-com per se, but it certainly has very romantic elements). So put these two titans of 90s cinema in a movie together, and I’m almost guaranteed to enjoy it.

“…seeing Julia Roberts & George Clooney spark off each other makes this something special…”

Objectively, Ticket to Paradise is nothing special, and in lesser hands it would have probably been a forgotten straight-to-streaming rom-com like so many other similar films. But seeing Julia Roberts and George Clooney spark off each other on the big screen makes this film something a little bit special. They light up the screen with their presence, and they can elevate the material with their performances. And, it should also be noted that Roberts and Clooney are in their mid-50s and early-60s respectively, and not only is their star-power undiminished, but here they are headlining a mainstream rom-com (and not, for example, a “geriatric” rom-com like The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel).

Plotwise, you can probably guess 95% of what’s going to happen just by reading the premise of the movie, but ultimately, a film like Ticket to Paradise is built on the charm of its stars rather than the surprises in its plot. That said, there are a few nicely unexpected touches here and there, for example, where the film touches on the reasons for the breakdown of David and Georgia’s marriage, or in the way the film treats its Balinese characters and culture with respect, avoiding the tropes and cliches that can often tarnish Hollywood films set abroad.

“…frothy, light-hearted entertainment…”

And while this is unquestionably George Clooney and Julia Roberts’ film, they are surrounded by a great supporting cast. Kaitlyn Dever builds on her breakthrough role in Booksmart by bringing layers and believability to her role as David and Georgia’s daughter Lily, while Maxime Bouttier makes sure Lily’s fiancé Gede is a three-dimensional character and not just a plot device. Billie Lourd is perhaps underused, but she steals nearly every scene she’s in as Lily’s best friend (and reuniting her with Kaitlyn Dever makes this a Booksmart reunion!). Rounding out the supporting cast is Lucas Bravo as Georgia’s boyfriend, and he arguably gets the most laughs of any character in the film.

Ultimately, Ticket to Paradise is frothy, light-hearted entertainment with no real nutritional value – but what’s wrong with a few empty calories every once in a while? The chemistry between Julia Roberts and George Clooney is more than enough to sustain the film for its 1 hour 45 minute runtime, and the movie and its cast deliver enough rom and enough com for this to be a very enjoyable, even if largely unsurprising, rom-com.