DIRECTOR: Ol Parker
PRODUCERS: Deborah Balderstone & Tim Bevah & Eric Fellner & Sarah Harvey
WRITERS: Ol Parker & Daniel Pipski
PERFORMERS: George Clooney Julia Roberts Kaitlyn Dever Sean Lynch Maxime Boutier Billie Lourd Arielle Carver-O'Neill
Romantic comedies have pretty much gone a bit sour since the 2010's. But this particular entry is no exception, in fact, it's the complete opposite. With the pairing of two Oscar winning actors whom the world had not seen together in a long time, the timing couldn't be better. This is a ticket back to simpler times, a ticket to a place where everybody falls in love again and probably for the first time in a long time. Ticket to Paradise takes us to a time back when romance and Hawaiian Islands knew how to mesh together and brings together a broken couple while making a new one.
There was a time when heavyweights Adam Sandler and Drew Barrymore were the top on screen couple that dominated romantic comedies without fail. Here, Clooney and Roberts (in their fifth pairing together) take over the mantle in such an exotic way that hadn't been seen in a long time. They play a divorced couple whose daughter has just been engaged to an islander and set out to sabotage her wedding, only to discover that the biggest mistake they could make could be far worse than the one they made years ago. What follows is unusual series of circumstances that forces them both to come to their senses and let things come as they go.
The chemistry between these two is undeniable and hard to look away from. Throughout their continuous bickering, you still feel the spark between them. Even as the story progresses further and further, you're routing for them to get back together. But mainly for everything to work out in the end. In a 50 First Dates type of cliche', this was that meets Father of the Bride in a way because of the engagement to wedding premise and the theme of letting go and making love work, regardless of the past or what it would take to make the impossible possible (LUKE 1:37). There wasn't a single thing about this film unlikable, not even watching Clooney and Roberts dancing the way they were while their on-screen daughter is so embarrassed that she wants a volcano to erupt and wipe them both out. Hadn't laughed this hard at a film like this in a long time and with comedy diminishing so quickly, we could certainly use things like this to keep our spirits high.
One of the things that make this film enjoyable is that the actors don't take themselves too seriously and neither does anything else about it. Through circumstantial events and by happenstance, all dots connect and sometimes break apart. In the end, you can't help but feel some type of gratitude for the end result itself. Not only does this speak to all families out there, but also spreads a message of rediscovering love as well as gaining it when least expected. Who says it's too late to make up for your past mistakes when you can learn from them and build a better future? No cheesiness, no trying too hard to make it work and no forcefulness either. That's what made this work on almost all levels. Somehow this pulls off what past films of this kind did and that's hard to do in this genre.
Acceptance, letting go and redemption are what plays out here in this and it makes sense when you put together two different people from two different worlds. Any island can be paradise and any ticket going to that paradise will get you there. But depending upon where you're going, that can be anywhere in the world. This wasn't just any ticket to any island, but a ticket back to what it was like to be in love and the transition of a former time into another with happier times that lie ahead. Sure, it may be a bit Hollywood-cliche', but if you're a fan or just like watching the two leads together, this one is a must see. Ticket to Paradise is a ticket you want to take your loved one too and even if it doesn't work for you, there are many surprises that lay ahead. Just don't expect too much.
MY RATING: 3.5 out of 5
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