Ticket to Paradise

This Friday, Ticket to Paradise released in theaters. Ticket to Paradise is a Romantic Comedy staring Julia Roberts and George Clooney as a divorced couple that must team up to stop their daughter from marrying a man she just met and making the same mistake they thought they made 25 years ago. Just as a preface, this movie is really not my kind of thing but is the type of movie that my wife is really into so going to see this was a nice date night for us.

Starting off, George Clooney and Julia Roberts are really fun in this film. They have great chemistry together and can play off of each other very well. There are also some pretty funny moments throughout the film that made me laugh multiple times. Some specific moments include the bar/dance sequence as well as the seaweed farming sequence. The movie was able to deliver good entertainment value and was very light and easy to watch. Finally, the setting was very stunning. There were a lot of very cool shots of the island that show of beautiful it is and how cool of a place it was to be and made for a fun setting for this film.

Unfortunately, there are a few things that keep this movie from being great. Firstly, while there are some funny parts in the movie, all of the funniest scenes were those that were showcased in the trailer with the rest of the humor just being a bit lackluster and forgettable. Another issue is that the story feels very clunky. It essentially feels like a tourist commercial for Bali with the story from one beautiful location to the next where something happens with a very loose connection to get us there. Some scenes felt like the equivalent of an excursion where is a fun sequence to do/see but in the end didn't have much to do with the story other than to say "hey, look at a fun thing to do on the island". Finally, I felt that the movie didn't quite deliver on the premise promised. The story implied that the George Clooney and Julia Roberts characters are supposed to hate each other but every interaction they have is surprisingly civil. I was really hoping for some funny back-and-forth between these characters but didn't quite deliver the level I was hoping for.

Overall, this is an entertaining enough film with two good stars and some funny moments but in the end, with the funniest moments being showed the funniest moments in the trailer, what was left as a surprise for the movie ended up being pretty mediocre.

Score: 6.5/10 Grade: B- Recommendation: If you like Romantic Comedies, check it out.