By Christopher James
It's an Ocean's Eleven reunion, as George Clooney and Julia Roberts headline "Ticket to Paradise"They don’t make them like they used to. I’m talking about movie stars, not movies. From frame one of Ticket to Paradise, Universal’s new romantic comedy, that's clear. George Clooney and Julia Roberts have not just expertly defined their “love to hate” relationship, they've also reminded the audience that movie stars like them don’t exist anymore, and it’s a damn shame. Clooney’s twinkly eyes and Roberts’ infectiously wide grin make them instantly recognizable but they're not coasting. Both actors are shrewd enough to use their movie star gifts for maximum effort. Ticket to Paradise hardly reinvents the wheel, but it is a breezy excuse to reunite the Ocean’s Eleven co-stars for an incredibly fun and funny trip to Bali...
The stage is set pretty quickly. David (George Clooney) and Georgia (Julia Roberts) have been divorced for 14 years and absence has not made the heart grow fonder. As their daughter, Lily (Kaitlyn Dever) graduates, both insist on being sat on opposite sides of the ceremony so as not to run into each other. This request isn’t honored, thus we see the hilarious barrage of barbs the two throw at each other. David is a New York architect who has sky high ambitions for Lily. Meanwhile, Georgia is a Los Angeles gallery owner who micromanages Lily so she will not repeat mistakes Georgia made when she was younger, namely marrying David. Lily retreats from her parents’ watchful eyes and goes on a trip to Bali with her drunk best friend, Wren (Billie Lourd -- a Booksmart reunion!). Just 37 days later, Lily has met the man of her dreams, a hunky seaweed farmer named Gede (Maxime Bouttier), and sends an email to her parents announcing their impending marriage. Cue freak out.
David (George Clooney) and Georgia (Julia Roberts) play nice upon arrival as they strategize how to break up their daughter's marriage.David and Georgia immediately start bickering the minute they sit near each other on the plane. Yet, the enemy of my enemy is my friend. Both think Lily is making a huge mistake and they realize they must be in lockstep together in order to break up Lily and Gede’s marriage. On paper, it’s a nasty concept. However, Roberts and Clooney are both experts at turning the sour and making it come off sweet. Even as they are bickering, one can tell the actors are having such a wonderful time together. Their shared goal also allows them plenty of set pieces for their fighting to turn into love sparks. It’s a cardinal rule that every rom-com should have a drunken night out, and an epic beer pong game with David and Georgia versus Lily and Gede proves to be a particular highlight.
As setups go, Ticket to Paradise makes quick work of exposition, much like Lily did in finding a wonderful husband. However, there are more than a few bumps along the way. Kaitlyn Dever continues to be one of our brightest talents, but even she can’t sell this whirlwind romance. As much as the movie tries to be sensitive to the culture of Bali, it can’t shirk the stench of cultural tourism that plagued Roberts’ own Eat, Pray, Love. Much of the humor is directed at David and Georgia, whose bad vibes do not mesh with Gede’s warm and large family. Still, Bali feels less like a character in the movie and more of a beautiful backdrop for American stars to trade jokes and kisses against.
While Kaitlyn Dever is winning, none of the other supporting players are given much opportunity to stand out.There’s also little else going on for the movie outside of Clooney and Roberts, though granted they deserve to be the main attraction. Billie Lourd knows how to steal a scene, but her character Wren only amounts to a one-joke wonder. It appears as if much of her character was left on the cutting room floor. A poignant scene with David demonstrates that Lourd’s Wren could’ve had a greater impact on the story. Though David attends the wedding sans date, Georgia brings along her goofy and overly agreeable younger boyfriend, Paul (Lucas Bravo). He only seems to be there to be the recipient of slapstick humor, which Bravo accepts with a smile on his face. Unfortunately, he’s from a much broader film and seems out of place with the ensemble.
Then again, when are rom-coms about believability? They are about escapism, which Ticket to Paradise provides in spades. I want to go to a world where Julia Roberts looks like she has had a blowout even though she spent the night in the jungle. I want to believe one day I will look as good as Clooney and Roberts do, much less in my 50s. What we need to believe is that George Clooney and Julia Roberts need to end up together. The movie succeeds at even more than that. It makes us believe in the life they had already built together and convinces us that it’s something worth picking up again. B-
Ticket to Paradise opens in theaters tomorrow, Friday October 21st.