Julia Roberts and George Clooney team up for a classic rom-com complete with synchronized door slamming, plenty of will they – won’t they moments and the beautiful Whitsunday Islands serving as a placeholder for Bali. While the story may be entirely predictable, the film leans heavily on tropes from rom-coms past, yet still delivers a solid and entertaining film thanks to its incredibly talented cast who all seem to be having the time of their lives. If you are looking for a friends night out or a movie to take your parents too, Ticket to Paradise is the ideal film.
The story follows Lily (Kaitlyn Dever), who graduates college with her best friend Wren (Billie Lourd) after graduation, the pair head to Bali before planning to return to America and become lawyers. On their trip, Lily is rescued by a local seaweed farmer Gede (Maxime Bouttier) and the two fall head over heels for each other. Lily decides to stay in Bali and abandon her plans to return to the U.S. Lily’s divorced parents David (George Clooney) and Georgia (Julia Roberts) travel to Bali and make a pact to Trojan Horse the couple’s plans and take Lily back home to fulfil her goal of becoming a successful lawyer. The hitch with this is David and Georgia are divorced, and not just divorced, they are incredibly bitter and resentful towards each other. The parents only have a few days to break up the wedding, which gets larger and larger every day.
It’s been a while since we had a good solid rom-com similar to the ones that dried out in the late nineties. This year’s The Lost City failed to live up to the hype, and Jennifer Lopez’s Marry Me, while a great rom-com in its own right, didn’t manage to garner a following. What works here is the absolute star power of Julia Roberts and George Clooney. They are both incredible powerhouses, and their undeniable chemistry helps to maintain your interest when the plot starts to head off the rails slightly. Just when you start to see the plot holes, Roberts and Clooney will start provoking each other and do so spectacularly.
The younger cast led by Dever and Lourd are just as enigmatic. The pair have impeccable comedic timing and playoff Roberts and Clooney’s persona well. When the two are on holiday in Bali, they have their own connection, and the sparks that fly when Gedde comes into the picture could have carried the film on their own.
Setting the Whitsunday Islands up as a placeholder for Bali was a bold choice. Fortunately, the scenery is incredibly beautiful, and even when green screen is used, The Whit-Bali Islands stands out and almost becomes a character in its own right.
Director OI Parker seemingly understands the appeal of the two lead actors and how well they play off each other. Roberts and Clooney fill all the tropes, including slamming their hotel doors in unison, fighting over who loves Lily the most and a hilarious game of beer pong in a local bar with a cringe-inducing dancing scene that will have you in stitches.
While this may not be the most clever or sharply written movie, it will keep you smiling from start to finish. It delivers exactly what the trailer says it will, nothing more, nothing less. This kind of feel-good film is exactly what we need right now after a long and exhausting year. The performances alone from the cast is enough to warrant watching this film, so much so it made me nostalgic for the golden years of comedies with heavy hitters like Julia Roberts who delivered some of the best of all time.
Ticket to Paradise is showing in cinemas today.
