George Clooney and Julia Roberts might want a refund on this Ticket To Paradise
A-listers Clooney and Roberts are saddled with a D-list script in this rom-com about bickering exes who band together to stop their daughter's quickie marriage
Film Reviews Ticket To Paradise
It would be easy to shrug away Ticket To Paradise as something mild and airy that goes down smooth—an easy pick for an airplane watch, or if you’re ever stuck in a hotel with basic cable. But you will find no such pussyfooting here. This movie stinks, truly stinks, and the fact that it had the component parts to be a winner makes it all the more frustrating.
George Clooney and Julia Roberts, the last among a certain kind of Hollywood A-lister, play estranged couple David and Georgia. He is an architect, or something, because we see him stomping around a construction site with a hardhat, and it’s unlikely that he’s tying steel. We see Georgia at her enormous L.A. gallery, mocking the modern art that she’s selling. (“I think it’s upside down,” she says. I believe I saw a similar gag on The Flintstones.) The point is they are both super successful, but we never see them talking about their work and they’ve got the time to disappear for a while without checking in or taking meetings or anything. I can barely do that and I write about movies on the internet, for God’s sake, that’s a notch below dog catcher.
Their daughter Lily (Kaitlyn Dever) has just graduated from law school, so as a gift to herself before starting work at a big firm she’s taking her best pal Wren (Billie Lourd) on a trip to Bali. (Wren is bringing an enormous supply of multi-colored condoms.) While there, Lily becomes enchanted by a hunky seaweed farmer (it happens!) named Gede (Maxime Bouttier), and soon thereafter she sends a message back to her parents: I’m getting married.
While David and Georgia truly can’t stand to be in the same room together, they agree to present a united front—they will fly to Bali and try and knock some sense into their daughter. They concoct the strategy to appear to be cool with the decision, but sow seeds of doubt.
There’s nothing about this that isn’t fertile ground for a good old fashioned screwball comedy. The problem is that director Ol Parker, who co-wrote the screenplay with Daniel Pipski, seems completely allergic to jokes. Bring a microscope with you to a screening of Ticket to Paradise and report back if you can find anything funny. Is Dever shouting “Dad, you’re embarrassing me!!” while Clooney mugs and shakes his rump to C+C Music Factory considered humor? Maybe to those who have given up on movies it is.
Clooney, it has well been established, has comedy chops, but there’s only so much he can do with no written material. He contours his voice and smirks, weaving his head to put as much spin as he can on barbs and would-be witticisms, but this gets tiresome after about 10 minutes. His zings at his ex-wife eventually paint him as an unlikable jerk. Roberts’ abundant natural charisma is lost, unfortunately, when she’s portraying just another wealthy white woman in paradise.
Kaitlyn Dever, so very funny in Booksmart, has a one-note character here: she is defined by being in love with her new boyfriend. Why? Well, he’s handsome, and he seems committed to a mellow life harvesting seaweed in a very photogenic spot. He’s also madly in love with her, but he’s got even less motivation. She’s straight-up boring, and you need to figure that vacationing college grads come in by the busloads, no? There’s nothing about her that stands out. If anything, Billie Lourd’s character has 10 times the personality (and dresses with more panache, too.) It just feels like someone sketched “they are in love” on a first draft of this screenplay and never got back around to filling it in.
The Bali of Ticket To Paradise is a joke. Most of the movie is set at a luxe resort, except for an engagement party thrown by Rege’s extended family. Here we get a surface view of Balinese culture, seen only on a beach. We see no real life. No one goes to a grocery store in this movie. There’s no depth, other than everyone is saintly. Here was an opportunity to dig in to a fascinating culture (google “Balinese monkey chant”) and present it against modernity, and we got nothing. And while it’s obvious that David and Georgia (and we, the audience) are meant to ultimately support this marriage, no one bothers to ask basic questions. What is she going to do there? Her career plans have gone from the legal world to “hanging out.” Can a couple live on love and seaweed alone?
Ticket To Paradise already opened in Europe and is doing quite well, and this year’s The Lost City, while a bit more high concept (and entertaining), shows that comedies with A-listers with advancing age can still draw people to the theater. The location photography in this one is certainly pleasant (each character has their own “I’ve never seen anything more gorgeous” moment) so the fault here really lies with the writing and direction. It’s as if everyone made this movie about the joy of being on vacation—while also taking one.
97 Comments
On behalf of all of us who work, or have worked in Animal Control and related fields, Fuck You.Solid review, though.
This actually was a good review. It had a little Ebert energy to it
I can no longer understand reviews that aren’t just recaps of what happened in the movie or show. Ebert would be incomprehensible gobbledygook now.
Hey, he gave you your props. What’s the issue??
You can’t get refunds on airline tickets. You just get credits you’ll never use.How about:“Ticket to Paradise is as much fun as a bomb threat at airport security”Or“Only a Christmas Day Tsunami could make Ticket to Paradise a shittier vacation”
“Ticket to Paradise? More like Ticket To The Crappy Place To Which Adam and Eve Were Expelled From Paradise!”
Add “amirite?” to the end and we have the winning title.AVClub please make the change. Thank you.
Only the corpse of Eddie Money showing and singing the titular song could make this any worse.
actually that would be pretty cool
probably better than whatever is in this movie
I stumbled over that too. Shouldn’t it be we the audience who might want a refund on Ticket to Paradise? Or more accurately, a refund for the ticket we bought to see Ticket to Paradise?
I don’t know. Bomb at an airport sounds like it’ll get you 72 virgins but I’ve learned to be skeptical.
“Eddie Wants His Money Back”.
Jay Sherman would be proud.
“It Stinks”
Beside Ocean’s Eleven and probably Syria, are there any good Clooney’s movie? Critically and comercially.I like The Monuments Men and The Men Who Stare at Goats, but some critics called it bad.
Out of Sight, Michael Clayton, Gravity (co-star). Monuments Men was so boring.
Damn. These comments made me realize George Clooney has had a shit and highly overrated career.
That’s true. He was good in E.R. for a few years. The Ocean movies were meh, just famous because it had a big cast of famous contemporaries. Julia Roberts has had a better career, and I’m not a fan of her. She was very good in Erin Brokovich, and on that TV show made by the producer of Mr Robot.
I’d say Oh Brother Where Art Thou, Out of Sight, and Michael Clayton are unambiguously great, and I’ll defend The Descendents.
Aside from those already mentioned, Fantastic Mr. Fox, Up in the Air, Burn After Reading, Confessions of a Dangerous Mind, and Three Kings all qualify. In addition to the eight or nine already listed. So yeah, quite a few.
I mean… From Dusk Til Dawn it at least half good.
I adore From Dusk Til Dawn and Clooney is great in it.
OK, and this is very important…which half?
Oh Fantastic Mr. Fox! I love that one.
the scene of him freaking out after finding out his wife was cheating on him in the Descendants is perfect in every which way. Plus I love Kauai and I have at least one dinner and mai tai at the bar they shot at every time I go (Tahiti Nui).
when I went to Kauai, After a hike in the Napali coast I wanted to come here but it was a day that they were closed (it was daytime) was bummed. But saw Descendants again last week (its on HULU right now for those interested) and still such a wonderful movie. Had forgotten Robert Forster was in this too. That queen Elizabeth scene still cracks me up even though its very sad.
Definite agree here. Out of Sight is also a master class in editing. Like, probably the best edited movie of the 90’s.
Edited by Anne Coates, the woman who cut Lawrence of Arabia, The Elephant Man, and Striptease (!).
Plus for you Coenheads, however you feel about Hail Caesar! and Intolerable Cruelty
For a minute I thought you just called me a “Conehead” and I wasn’t sure if I should be offended.
Hail Caesar! sure seemed like it was fun to make. I can’t imagine I’ll ever watch it a second time.
For my money, Michael Clayton is his unimpeachable masterpiece (or I suppose it’s Tony Gilroy’s), with a ton of great honorable mentions: Three Kings, O Brother, and perhaps controversially, Hail, Caesar!
Good Night and Good Luck was excellent. 93% on rotten tomatoes.
It wasn’t a box office smash but it grossed over 7x its budget so it was a success.
You just listed the worst possible Clooney movies (“Monuments” & “Goats”) among your favourite. Your judgment here is not reliable either.
Three Kings. Three Kings! (and a whole bunch of others as others have noted)
Yeah, like a bunch???
Return of the Killer Tomatoes and From Dusk Til Dawn
Three Kings, Out of Sight and I thought Money Monster was pretty good too.
Out of Sight is so great. Oh Brother Where Art Thou. Up in the Air.3 Kings.Perfect Storm.Good Night and Good Luck.His batting average is actually very high.
Ooh, forgot Perfect Storm. Good pull.
I don’t really know or care about how they did commercially, but: Out of Sight is fantastic. Burn After Reading is one of the more hilarious Coen bros. movies, IMO. The American was a commercial bomb I think, and its deliberate pace was divisive for viewers it seems, but I liked that one quite a lot. Up in the Air was much better than I expected, I believe it was a Best Picture nominee that year. Oh, and if you count voice roles, Fantastic Mr. Fox is delightful.
intolerable cruelty is a fun watch.
Oh Brother Where Art Thou? I actually didn’t see it but I remember everyone gushing over it.Up in the Air I did see and I thought it was cute enough. Nothing great, but it qualifies as “good.”Out of Sight was greatness.
O Brother is one of the Coens’ great rewatch movies. The first time through it’s so mannered that it can be a bit distracting but it’s one where you find new gems with ever viewing.
How about Good Night and Good Luck? That, and the masterpiece that is Michael Clayton.
I think people pretend that the Solaris original is better but actually I do like the George Clooney one.
This was shot in Australia.Bullet Train, which takes place in Japan, was entirely shot in a studio in LA.It’s 2022. Sure, there’s a pandemic, but this is ridiculous.
Seriously. Despite most of The Rise of Skywalker taking place on the planets Exegol, Tattooine and Kijimi, it was shot entirely on Earth. Lazy.
I can’t decide if “Exegol” sounds like a pain reliever or a laxative.
Doesn’t this take place in Bali, Indonesia? It’s a real place I’ve been to, and the people of Bali would have loved to host a film production to help bring back tourism. Just saying.
I mean, maybe? I certainly don’t know if it’s easy or hard to get filming permits there, necessary work visas for cast and crew, what additional costs that could incur, or alternatively the availability of local crew, and the logistics involved in hiring them, and the costs that could incur. I’m not going to presume that shooting in Bali was even a reasonable option, let alone a better one for the logistics of making the film.
It’s a shit movie. I dont think the Aussies want anything to do with it.
Hey, who said we don’t want anything to do with shit movies?
Why did every movies that took place in exotic local were shot in another location? The worst offender probably Red Notice where you can see it’s just green screen and probably shot in Vancouver.
My all time worst example of this is the crappy Battle of the Bulge film from the 60s. Belgium, quite frankly, does not have deserts.
just like all the “Los Angeles” movies that are filmed in Atlanta. Because I was from Los Angeles, when I saw Taken 3 which is taking place in LA , yet some scenes like a gas station in Glendale yet the workers all have southern accents like damn they didn’t even try.
Obviously it happens a lot with TV productions, but this is a big budget feature film featuring two of the world’s biggest “stars”. They could have changed the location to Mexico and shot there, in a real beach resort. People in Indonesia are gonna go, Where’s that? Indonesia has a film industry and Bali is not dangerous or in the middle of nowhere…
Welcome to me bogan wedding! Grab yer goon bag for the toast!
i get your point, but even if they shot bullet train in japan it would still almost entirely be train sets in a studio. plus, to your point about the pandemic, was japan even allowing people in during the time they filmed it?
No, Japan was in lockdown. The producers also didn’t get permission to use Japan Railways (JR) designs of their bullet trains, for reasons unknown. Plus, Tokyo to Kyoto by bullet train is like 1h45m, not 6h.
They couldn’t shoot it in Bali; there’s too many Australians.
I’m sure Bali is thankful not to have a big film crew f*cking up everything they touch.
That’s definitely one of the reasons why Top Gun: Maverick did so well. You could tell a lot of the stunts were practical. People can notice!
I’m not sure I can trust a reviewer who had determined he was not going to like this flic from before it started. Besides, he can’t tell “Gede” from “Rege”!
Fair enough but doesnt Clooney suck in everything?
I’ll definitely watch the movie at some point on an airplane, via a streaming subscription or in hotel room based on the four stars, so the actual grade given or the review doesn’t really matter. Though, I did enjoy reading it for a bit of context as to what to expect when I do see the film.That said, a lot of the words above seem focused on Devers’ character’s motivation. As a parent and as someone who has probably seen thousands of movies, my assumption is that Devers character is afraid or reluctant to move onto the next stage of their life and find the predictability of a simple island life in a beautiful paradise appealing, and I assume that by the end, she learns that there’s no reason to be afraid and that she would not feel fulfilled by giving up all that she had worked to achieve, or some such nonsense. I haven’t seen this particular version of the story, but the “why” for Devers character doesn’t seem like a mystery to me.(Also, apologies to all the clam-diggers and resort waitresses because though they may find their lives pleasant and fulfilling, it doesn’t fit into the narratives movies like to sell.)
Julia Roberts’ late stage career is so carefully manicured that she only has the opportunity to appear in the most banal movies, or sheer crap.
Plus that one time the movie completely disappears up its ass and her character has to pretend to be Julia Roberts.
Don’t the two of them hold some responsibility for this? This isn’t their first gig. They are well experienced and savvy A-listers with agents and other smart people around them. Did they not see the lame script before signing up?
I’m guessing a couple of dump trucks full of money and an all-expenses paid trip to Australian resort areas may have been partial motivation.
Waiting so long…Waiting so long
Major disappointment. I bought my ticket to paradise and didn’t meet a single virgin. False advertising.
How was the seaweed?
Julia Roberts still great. One of the last living Hollywood legends.Clooney. Overrated shit.
O Brother, Where Art Thou?, Michael Clayton, Syriana, Three Kings, The Descendants as well as Good Night and good Luck beg to differ.
Nope. Just prove how shitty Georgey is.
Don’t bother. That commenter is a troll. They’ve made dozens of banal comments on this article alone looking for Someone to bite. Flag and dismiss.
I always loved that one Eddie Money song. I’m pretty sure the lyric went, “I’ve got two tickets to Ticket to Paradise!”
This movie is absolute shit.
I remember seeing the preview for this and thinking, finally the dumb, nostalgic, charming, totally unambitious movie I had been hoping for throughout the pandemic and post-pandemic period, and sadly it turns out to be as by-the-numbers as I had feared it would be. Betting on the charm of Clooney (my all time man crush) and Roberts to keep this turd afloat wasn’t the worst bet but as I read the plot summary I realized how disappointed I would have been spending $15 to watch this play out.
So thumbs down then on Clooney’s latest claptrap about his waning libido.
It’s the American way!
I think a big issue that happens with big stars or anyone firmly entrenched in the world of Hollywood and its extreme wealth is these people (actors, writers, directors) don’t understand that many of us may not be interested in casual, wealthy people without a care in the world traveling to beautiful destinations and having silly adventures.
Let me guess. After the joke about the “modern art” being upside down, does someone complain that “my kid could draw that”?
Are they still considered A-listers? I’m legitimately asking.
In that the only reason anyone would for a moment consider seeing this is because of them, yeah I guess.
Please tell me that at the end someone offers George a ticket to paradise, and he winks at the camera and says “I’ll take TWO”, with freeze frame and then the Eddie Money song kicks in as the credits roll
Cast lip-sync! Cast lip-sync!
Sadly no, but it does actually end on a freeze frame.
I get that this movie blows… but is the fact that it “missed” an opportunity to dive into the fascinating Balinese culture really a legit compliant? It’s a Romantic comedy staring 2 a-listers that is meant to be meaningless fluff. It sounds like it fails at even that but did you really expect anyone to go to a grocery store?
Maybe if it had delivered on it’s one job, being funny. I bet it doesn’t even have a proper “He lives in a SHACK!” moment.
Maybe if someone had gone to a grocery store and had a breakdown over the mismatched quantity that hot dogs and hot dog buns are sold in!That part made absolutely no sense in the review. Even the best version of this movie isn’t an exploration of Balinese culture.
This movie looks like it came 10-15 years too late in both their careers. From the commercials it looks like they are trying to slide on their charisma and good will…It’s not working. And I like them both.
Unexpected dig at dogcatchers, damn
How refreshing. A dude shitting on a rom com. What an original take.
I mostly had a pleasant enough time watching this movie, but it is just about entirely devoid of plot and the characters are absolute nothings all around.