Ticket to Paradise
Director: Ol Parker
Writer: Ol Parker, Daniel Pipski
Cast: George Clooney, Julia Roberts, Kaitlyn Dever, Maxime Bouttier, Billie Lourd, Lucas Bravo
Seen on: 19.9.2022

Content Note: orientalism

Plot:
Georgia (Julia Roberts) and David (George Clooney) got divorced many years ago, but their relationship is still strained. They only see each other when it concerns their daughter Lily (Kaitlyn Dever). Lily just graduated law school and went on a holiday with her best friend Wren (Billie Lourd) before starting her job at a prestigious law firm. Only that she falls in love in Bali and has decided to stay there and marry Gede (Maxime Bouttier). This shocks her parents. As they travel to the planned wedding together, they hatch a plan: to keep their daughter from making a mistake, they will have to work together to sabotage her wedding without her noticing. This common goal unites them, at least for a while.

Ticket to Paradise lives off the star quality from Roberts and Clooney, and it is a comfortable income. You probably won’t be surprised by much here, but you will be entertained in a light-hearted and sweet way.

When I saw the trailer for Ticket to Paradise, I was pretty sure that it would be all about Georgia and David getting back together through the mayhem they cause. And while the film hints at the possibility, it actually delegates the romance to Lily and Gede. I can understand if you’re disappointed by that choice, but I have to say that I really wasn’t. I absolutely loved that Georgia and David work through their issues with each other and their separation to arrive at friendship and being able to treasure their past.

This mostly works because Clooney and Roberts are really excellent, as usual. They nail both the comedy and the emotions, and they really have fantastic chemistry with each other. You can see why they would have been together at one point, and you can also see why they aren’t anymore. Dever and Bouttier don’t stand a chance next to them (and the movie doesn’t really try to give them one), but they make the best of it.

The plot here is nothing to write home about, and the orientalism and exoticism that seemingly inevitably comes with the Bali location (where everybody is wise and knows about life and love, unlike the USAmericans fucked up by civilization) is no less egregious for being expected.

Nevertheless, and I realize that I say this as a white person, the movie is the perfect fare to let it wash over you. Nothing embodies the spirit of the movie better for than when, after a night of sleeping rough, Georgia exits the jungle with perfect hair. That’s the kind of film it is – and it’s the kind of film it wants to be. And that makes it wonderfully entertaining.

Summarizing: gives you what you expect in the most charming way.