Ticket to Paradise

Directed by Ol Parker, Ticket to Paradise follows squabbling exes David (George Clooney) and Georgia (Julia Roberts) as they fly to Bali to prevent their daughter (Kaitlyn Dever’s Lily) from marrying a local (Maxime Bouttier’s Gede). Filmmaker Parker, armed with his and Daniel Pipski’s screenplay, delivers as breezy and entertaining an endeavor one might’ve anticipated based on the premise, and there’s little doubt, certainly, that the movie benefits substantially from the almost impossibly charming and engaging work of its two stars – with Clooney and Roberts’ megawatt efforts going a long way towards smoothing over the narrative’s bumps and lulls. And although the picture boasts plenty of laugh-out-loud funny gags and set-pieces, including Georgia’s boyfriend’s (Lucas Bravos’ Paul) encounter with a snake, Ticket to Paradise contains a number of smaller-scale moments that fare just as well and suffuse the proceedings with an appealing undercurrent of drama. (There is, for example, a stirring scene wherein David opens up to Lily about the end of his marriage to Georgia.) It is, as such, relatively easy to forgive the picture’s few missteps and a final stretch that goes on just a little bit too long, with the final result a better-than-expected romcom that certainly lives up to the potential of its irresistible setup and star pairing.

*** out of ****