Ticket to Paradise

The genre of romcoms or romantic comedies are about as common as seeing a drama film in the theaters these days, however entirely different genres. Most dramas are typically well thought out and acted with interesting stories, but romcoms, on the other hand are not. Now, not all romcoms are created equal--some are actually interesting, but "Ticket to Paradise", although has some funny, interesting scenes, is often written in a way where the jokes seem forced and the premise isn't anything original.

David Cotton (George Clooney) and Georgia Cotton (Julia Roberts), two divorced parents who can't tolerate one another, head to Bali after their daughter, Lily (Kaitlyn Dever) announces her plans to marry a local islander, Gede (Maxime Bouttier) she just met while on holiday with her best friend, Wren Butler (Billie Lourd) after their college graduation. David and Georgia decide to put aside their differences and work together to stop the wedding, believing that doing so will keep Lily from making a dreadful mistake similar to their own mistake 25 years ago. Will they succeed, or end up wondering if they even made the right decision that many years ago?

Others to round out the cast are Lucas Bravo as Paul, Cintya Dharmayanti as Losi, Sean Lynch as Rob, Genevieve Lemon as Beth-Ann and Nom Gunadi as Losi's uncle. 

This was paced and staged well by director Ol Parker ("Imagine Me & You" '05, "Now Is Good" '12, "Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again" '18). As with other romcoms, the formula is rather similar so therefore, directing most of these films is like 'paint by numbers'. Surely there were some interesting places where the actors could shine when on the set, but both Clooney and Roberts had to of yawned through their performances. If there's a culprit here, it would have to be the writers which are Ol Parker ("Loved Up" (TV movie) '95, "In Your Dreams" (TV movie) '96, "It Was an Accident" 2000, "The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel" '15, "Mama Mia! Here We Go Again" '18, "A Boy Called Christmas" '21) plus TV, and Daniel Pipski. Parker has the lion's share of the writing, however I'm sure Pipski was pivotal in his ideas. As with previous romcoms, this had the exact same formula: boy meets girl, girl meets boy, they have a dilemma that they must figure out, throw in some parents, friends, co-workers into the mix, and trouble ensues, but not to worry, because the dilemma is figured out and the ending is tied up with a nice big bow. Sound familiar? It's not that this film is poorly written as much as it is not really original. But having both Clooney and Roberts in the lead roles certainly didn't hurt this story, and for that reason, this is why you are there. 

This film is great if you are either a Clooney or Roberts fan, but if not, it will be a fidgety sit. Certainly in a world that is fraught with increased crime, inflation, politics and disease, a comedy would definitely hit the spot, and this is not a total wash, but it would be nice to see something a bit more fresh.

Out of 4 Stars: 2.5                                       Rated: PG-13                                           104mins.