Romantic comedies have never really gone away, but mainstream examples of A-list stars have been pretty thin on the ground since the glory days of the 1990s and early 2000s, when “Pretty Woman,” “Notting Hill,” “Love Actually,” and Ruled” memoirs Bridget Jones” at the box office. Bucking the trend is “Ticket to Paradise,” a shiny piece of fluff starring Julia Roberts and George Clooney as a divorced couple whose passion ignites in Bali during their prickly attempt to prevent their daughter from marrying a man she’s just met. . While far from being a classic of its kind, it’s probably just a “ticket” for general viewers who relish the chance to watch Roberts and Clooney trade barbs, before being struck by Cupid’s arrow once again.
Opening in much of Europe, South America and Australia long before it launches in North America on October 21, “Ticket” is the type of lightweight entertainment that often bypasses movie theaters nowadays and goes straight to streaming platforms. With a powerful central duo that radiates charm even when the direction lacks skill and the dialogue isn’t funny, this super-formatted concoction should draw large crowds into its theatrical run. Sounding like it could have been made 20 or 30 years ago, “The Ticket” may not have a lot of sparkling, sophisticated wit – or indeed many big belly laughs – but it does deliver enough smiles and chuckles to score as a game. Easily entertaining yet memorable for audiences seeking simple entertainment from an escape from reality.
Taking a basic hint from the “Philadelphia Story” school of comedy about divorced couples who gave it another shot, director Ol Parker (“Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again”, writer of “The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel”) and co-writer Daniel Put Pipski David (“Mamma Mia! Clooney) and Georgia (Roberts) as husband and wife have been everything for five brief years. That was before the house overlooking the lake that David built for them burned to the ground, and their happiness escalated with him.
Twenty years later, they’ve settled into a comfortable routine of exchanging insults when they are called to attend important events in the life of daughter Lily (Caitlyn Dever). Looking to reduce contact even after graduating from Lily’s college graduation, former friends are brought back together six weeks later when Lily announces that she is about to marry Jedi (Maxime Potier), a handsome local seaweed grower she met while vacationing in Bali with her boyfriend BFF Wren. (Billy Lord).
Complicating matters further is the unexpected arrival of Georgia’s younger friend, Paul (the ungrateful role of “Emily in Paris” star Lucas Bravo), an airline pilot. The awkward kind who practically worships Georgia, the handsome flyboy only proposes marriage when the plot requires another distraction to keep David and Georgia apart until a romcom decides they’re ready to start looking at each other with new, trapped eyes.
There is plenty of lively dialogue in the early sequences that shows naughty shooters declaring a truce in order to stop Lily from making what they are sure would be a huge mistake. Naturally, this was before they met the husband-in-waiting, but that is off topic and nothing less than sabotaging the nuptials would suffice in such an emergency.
Central to the allure of romantic comedies is the fact that everyone can guess the ending. Their success depends on the timing and execution of pranks and funny situations on their way to familiar and relaxing affirmations of love and romance. After getting off to a promising start, “Ticket to Paradise” hasn’t quite fallen off the ground—that would be impossible with Clooney and Roberts in the frame—but it often struggles to make the most of a setup that seems ripe for comic misunderstandings, funny hoaxes and cross-wires supporting This type.
Whether it’s David and Georgia enacting their dumb plans to steal wedding rings and sow doubt in the Jedi’s mind, or engineering travel and transportation accidents that will lead to chaos, the film moves well enough but rarely hits the high comic notes or gathers momentum to sweep audiences into disarray. Georgia’s unfortunate encounter with a dolphin, or a hotel room after Paul’s sudden arrival, are other examples of moments that could have turned into a laughing riot but end up being sweetly entertaining instead.
When Parker swings, the picture sways, like the sequence in which Clooney and Roberts appear very badly – good dance moves to stuffing the floors of the C+C Music Factory in the ’90s “Gonna Make You Sweat (Everyone Dance Now)” in a bar after playing too many Pong beer games. This is gruesome and brutal as in the PG-13 photo which never indicates that anyone has sex before – or even after – marriage.
This is Roberts Clooney’s show all the way, both of which also give the story’s episodic soul-searching moments an emotional heft that will particularly resonate with middle-aged viewers. However, the other cast members exonerate themselves well with generally limited opportunities. Devier is attractive in the narrowly written and somewhat archaic role of a young woman in high heels for Jedi, but also worried about “letting everyone down” if she follows her heart, and has fun chemistry with talented French-Indonesian actor Potier in his first major role internationally. Lourd, who played alongside Dever on “Booksmart,” runs some good sage thoughts as the close friend, while Australian actor Genevieve Lemon records a couple of times as a gossip plane passenger who appears on the tourist track when David doesn’t want her.
It is also good to see the Balinese culture and wedding rituals that last for days captured with precision and respect, as the last moment approaches the romantic truth of the young couple and the bride’s parents. Filmed primarily in the Whitsunday Islands off northern Australia due to Covid-19 restrictions making it impossible to shoot in Bali, “Ticket” really gives the look of paradise in the beautifully polished widescreen images of DP Ole Bratt Birkeland (“Judy”). The Australian duo of production designer Owen Patterson (“The Matrix”) and designer Lizzy Gardiner (“The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert”) also make remarkable contributions to creating a place that seems a million miles away from all the fears of the world. For a little 104 minutes, this will be a place that many viewers will be glad to visit.
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