Film Review: TICKET TO PARADISE (2022): Charismatic Stars Carry Entertaining Movie Through a Formulaic Plot

Ticket to Paradise Review

Ticket to Paradise (2022) Film Review, a movie directed by Ol Parker, written by Daniel Pipski and Ol Parker and starring George Clooney, Julia Roberts, Kaitlyn Dever, Sean Lynch, Arielle Carver-O’Neill, Ling Cooper Tang, Billie Lourd, Maxime Bouttier, Francis McMahon, Romy Poulier, Lucas Bravo, Dorian Djoudi and Cintya Dharmayanti.

Director Ol Parker’s Ticket to Paradise delivers stars George Clooney and Julia Roberts in very likable performances even if the film feels a bit too predictable at times. This movie suffers a little from the lack of a really unique plot, but the charisma of the lead stars will keep the viewer intrigued throughout. In the picture, Clooney and Roberts play a divorced couple named David and Georgia who must try to stop their law school grad daughter, Lily (Kaitlyn Dever), from getting married. David and Georgia feel that it may be better for Lily to follow her head rather than her heart. So, they try to stop her wedding with hilarious results.

We meet Lily and her best friend, Wren (Billie Lourd), who go traveling to Bali on vacation. When they get stuck in the middle of the ocean with no boat to take them to shore, a handsome stranger named Gede (Maxime Bouttier) appears out of nowhere to save the day and rescue them. Gede falls in love with Lily and these two young people get along extremely well in a way that can probably happen only in the movies. So, David and Georgia board a plane to try to stop the two young lovebirds from getting married. David and Georgia’s plan becomes one that involves hiding the wedding rings a young ringbearer is holding onto for safekeeping. Once David and Georgia get a hold of the rings, Gede and Lily are heartbroken but still hope to proceed with the wedding.

Meanwhile, Paul (Lucas Bravo), a pilot, has followed Georgia to Bali to propose marriage to her. One problem, though: Georgia may still have some feelings for David and David may still have some feelings of love for Georgia. When they get drunk after a night out (which includes some hysterical dancing), the divorced couple ends up in bed together although apparently nothing sexual happens. David does end up wearing yoga pants, though, in a funny turn of events.

Kaitlyn Dever surprises the viewer with a star-making performance as Lily. Dever has given good performances before but this one could catapult her to stardom. Dever shines in personal moments between her and David and her and Georgia as well. As Gede, Maxime Bouttier doesn’t bring as much depth to his character as Dever brings to hers but the two make a nice pairing, nevertheless.

George Clooney has never been more enjoyable to watch than in his work in this film. He is constantly charismatic and has nice chemistry with Julia Roberts. The two stars are at the top of their comic game here and exchange witty barbs and fun banter that make for a delightfully good time. Don’t miss the outtakes at the end where Clooney hilariously compares himself to Brad Pitt.

Julia Roberts brings surprising depth and complexity to Georgia. As she tries to decide whether or not to accept Paul’s marriage proposal, there is always a bit of suspense as to whether or not she’ll accept it.  Georgia is thus extremely well-played by the always radiant Roberts who looks better than ever on screen. She and Clooney feel like a comic dream team pairing with great chemistry to boot.

Ticket to Paradise feels formulaic, at times, though. It’s a feel-good movie dampened by too many easy resolutions to the dilemmas found within the plot. Without giving too much away, Lily is a law school graduate, but she makes some choices late in the film that trivialize such an accomplishment. Her choices at the end would be more believable if some of the writing was a bit stronger in terms of her character development. Dever is terrific, as stated, but the script could have given her character just a tad more depth to explain why she makes the choices she does.

With that being said, Clooney and Roberts make terrific movie magic together in Ticket to Paradise. It’s a winning comedy that has its heart in the right place despite any shortcomings the film may have. Clooney can make the viewer laugh so hard in one scene and, also, be serious in another scene such as the one in which Lily asks her father, David, for a dance together. Though the film doesn’t show them dancing, it touches the heart, nevertheless. The outtakes during the end credits also show Julia Roberts being funny in an improvisational way that will have audiences laughing in the aisles. See this film, especially if you are a fan of Clooney and Roberts.

Rating: 7.5/10

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