Ticket to Paradise: Starry Comedy is Sweet but Requires Substantial Suspension of Disbelief

By Kim Hughes

Rating: B+

Ticket to Paradise is at once more charming and less charming than its TMI trailer might suggest.

To the former, there is a coherent story at play, as well as a skilled level of filmmaking that’s perceptible. To the latter, it takes real suspension of disbelief to see fictionalized characters and not Julia Roberts and George Clooney on screen, especially when the preternaturally suave Clooney is acting the stooge.

The crux of the matter is spelled out in those beforementioned trailers. Roberts and Clooney are Georgia and David, bickering and long-divorced parents to Lily (Kaitlyn Dever) who has just graduated law school and is taking a break in Bali with her boozy BFF Wren (a scene-sealing Billie Lourd).

There, Lily is quickly smitten by local seaweed farmer Gede (Maxime Bouttier) who rescues her and Wren in his boat after they have been left behind by a tour. The attraction is instant and deep with Lily realizing the corporate ladder-climbing life she was chasing pales next to the calm beauty of a Balinese sunrise. In a romantic whirlwind, and with the ecstatic blessing of Gede’s family and community, Lily and Gede decide to wed.

Naturally, the news of a month-long courtship and sudden engagement doesn’t sit well with Georgia and David, still smarting from their own broken marriage. From the U.S., they head to Bali, ostensibly to attend the wedding though behind the scenes, the pair scheme to sabotage the plan. Along the way, they learn that their kid is pretty smart about what constitutes commitment, they weren’t bad as parents, and maybe their own fractured partnership could use revisiting.

It’s easy to split Ticket to Paradise into distinct plus and minus columns. On the plus side, the oft-commented-upon scenery is dazzling — though it’s not actually Bali. The filmmakers hoped to shoot in Indonesia, but Covid restrictions moved them to Australia.

The cultural gulf separating the gracious Balinese hosts and their cranky North American guests is well-played for laughs, Daniel Pipski’s script is edgy and sharp, and a blooper reel leads moviegoers out of the cinema on a fun note.

But it’s tough not to see Hollywood movie stars acting. Indeed, their very star-power sublimates the fundamental joy of writer-director Ol Parker’s breezy, bright film about the perils of falling in love on vacation, something the noble and wise Pamela Anderson could corroborate, having married rocker Tommy Lee on a beach after four days together in Mexico.

In what may be an unintentional concession to Clooney and Roberts’ well-documented off-screen friendship, a scene requiring a passionate kiss is conspicuously filmed from behind, dissolving when the pair suddenly push each other away in disgust.

And while a subplot about Roberts’ character dating a much younger, much dumber airline pilot is a win in the anti-ageism corner, it feels unnaturally tacked on and notably less developed than the other relationships (mother-daughter, father-daughter, father-son, husband-wife etc.) explored here.

So, Ticket to Paradise… see or skip? Easy. See as there’s lots to enjoy. Bouttier as the wise-beyond-his-years Gede is absolutely rubberneck-worthy, the scenery and backdrops are gorgeous if out of reach for most of us, and the film crackles with energy. But you’ll be watching movie stars at work, and you’ll never forget it.

Ticket to Paradise. Directed by Ol Parker. Starring George Clooney, Julia Roberts, Kaitlyn Dever, and Maxime Bouttier. Opens wide October 21.