‘Paradise’ Lost
You’ve seen this movie. IN the trailer.
Ticket to Paradise
Director: Ol Parker • Writer: Ol Parker, Daniel Pipski
Starring: George Clooney, Julia Roberts, Kaitlyn Dever, Billie Lourd, Maxime Bouttier, Lucas Bravo
USA/UK • 1hr 44mins
Opens Hong Kong October 6 • IIA
Grade: B
George Clooney is a beloved multi-millionaire because he knows how to play to his strengths, those being 1) giving us a squint from under a lowered gaze, followed by 2) a rakish grin and half-smirk, then a 3) wisecrack that accentuates his mature (not old) wrinkles. Rinse and repeat, and if you can do that from a fun location like Las Vegas or, in the case of Ol Parker’s Ticket to Paradise, Queensland, all the better. If I were in his place, I would also do as told, collect my US$20 million cheque and retreat to my Italian Lakes villa.
So that’s what you get here: Clooney Clooney-ing harder than he’s ever Clooney-ed in his life, joined by Julia Roberts doing that thing people love Roberts for. Suffice it to say Ticket to Paradise is exactly the rom-com you think it is, complete with zany, high-concept plot that brings the unlikely couple – exes Georgia and David Cotton (Clooney and Roberts) – together and a whole lot of gums. So many gums. Director Ol “Mr Thandiwe Newton” Parker, applies the same frothy, inconsequential sunniness he did as writer on The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel and as director in Mamma Mia: Here We Go Again!, and gets the same frothy, inconsequential results. Which is not to say the film is bad. I hate rom-coms, so it’s bad. If you like rom-coms, and those types in particular, it’s fantabulous.
And not a drop of sweat
For what it’s worth, the story starts with Lily Cotton (Kaitlyn Dever) graduating from law school and heading on a much needed vacation with her louche bestie Wren (Billie Lourd) to Bali, here played by various parts of Mount Tambourine and Hamilton Island. In Bali, Lily meets hunky seaweed farmer Gede (Maxime Bouttier) and boom! She’s in love, she’s getting married and relocating to Indonesia because “I belong here.” No, girl, you don’t, that’s just your privileged white girl malaise talking but whatever. After dumping poor Wren like last week’s laundry, Lily tells her parents that lawyering is over and please come to my wedding.
This is where the hijinks kick in. David and Georgia, who absolutely hate each other, though it’s never quite clear why, call a cease fire long enough to conspire to break up the happy couple because they think they know better. The bickering starts on the flight, which Georgia’s new beauhunk, pilot Paul (Lucas Bravo, Emily in Paris) is captaining, and never, ever stops. Will they succeed in killing the relationship? Does Gede ever figure it out? Will Georgia and David get back together? Does anyone check in on Wren? Again, I invite you to review the trailer.
Farmer. Supermodel
You go girl
In fairness, Ticket to Paradise has its moments, among them centering a couple well past 50 as the primary lovebirds and allowing Roberts to look her age. The jokes are predictable but Clooney and Roberts are pros that can do this shit in their sleep, and Bravo seems to be having genuine fun as the lunkheaded boy toy. That said, there was plenty of room for Lourd to have a modest slutty galpal B story. That never materialised thanks to Parker and co-writer Daniel Pipski’s dedication to wholesomeness but he does fully lean into the romantic fantasy: no one ever breaks a sweat while dressed in a wool tux in subtropical Bali, there is no conflict except for the central plot contrivance, there is always forgiveness. Did you expect otherwise? — DEK