Friday, September 16, 2022

Film Review: Ticket to Paradise

 Film number  33  of 2022

Film: Ticket to Paradise

Theatre: Hoyts Victoria Gardens

Stars: 3

Ticket to Paradise looked pretty rubbish from the trailers but there were some things that piqued my interest. 

They were:

  • George Clooney and Julia Roberts together again
  • Kaitlyn Dever and Billie Lourd together again (If you haven't seen Booksmart, DO IT. They're brilliant in it)
  • A Bali location
  • A light romantic comedy - great for a Friday night. 
And yeah, I got what I paid for, which was a rubbish film, which was pretty to look at , where the brain didn't need to be engaged and I could pick holes in all sorts of things, which kept me entertained. 



So the story goes that David (George Clooney) and Georgia (Julia Roberts) were once married and had an acrimonious divorce. They also had a daughter, Lily (Kaitlyn Dever). On her graduation, Lily takes off for Bali with her best mate, Wren (the ever underated Billie Lourd) knowing that she was starting a job as a lawyer in three months. In Bali, she falls instantly in love with Gede (newcomer Maxime Bouttier) and they decide to marry. David and Georgia try to find a loose truce to break up the couple and try to stop them from making the worst mistake of their lives.

Yeah, it's very silly. 

From the credits, it was discovered this was filmed on Hamilton Island in Queensland. It certainly didn't look like the Bali I know (it wasn't even filmed at Denpasar Airport - looked nothing like it.)

It also didn't feel that culturally appropriate - okay, it wasn't culturally appropriate - even though they allegedly had a couple of cultural advisors on the team. But it's a romantic comedy, so it can be forgiven. Just. 

And it was all pretty silly mindless American drivel - but sometimes you need that. A perfect film for a Friday night. 

What I did like about it was it also contained Lucas Bravo (Who you'd know from Emily in Paris as Chef Gabriel - like cor blimey!) in a comedic role as Paul, Georgia's pilot boyfriend. It was worth the ticket price to see him in a Batman suit in the blooper credits. Billie Lourd was playing to type as the ditsy friend again - and she does that very well. 

And yes, it's pretty too look at. And it's sort of fun to watch George Clooney and Julia Roberts fall back in love again, arguing all the way. It's more fun watching them dance to 90s music to the disgust of their daughter. 

In all, this is mindless fodder to entertain you on a Friday night. It's fluffier than the fairy floss at the Royal Show and about as substantial as a packet of stale cheezels. From the trailer, you know this is what you are going to get. 

I can't be too derisive. I got exactly what I thought I'd get out of this film. And that is okay. You'd never pay to see Clooney and Roberts playing Macbeth and his wife. But it's okay to give your hard earned dollars to watch this film. It's fun. It's pretty to look at. I'll forgive a lot of things because of these last two facts. 




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