Movie Review: 'Ticket To Paradise' Is Too Toxic To Laugh
LOS ANGELES, Oct. 19 (UPI) -- Ticket to Heaven , in theaters Friday, is not smart enough to love a conflicted couple. Despite the charms of Julia Roberts and George Clooney, the story is too toxic to be funny.
Long-divorced David (Clooney) and Georgia (Roberts) struggle to pick up their daughter Lilis (Kathleen Dever) from college and beg each other for someone to listen.
David and Georgia meet at the wedding when Lily becomes engaged to Gade (Maxime Boutier) while on vacation in Bali. They plan to prevent Lily from making the mistake of believing they are married.
The simple idea that "arbitrary fathers interfere with their children's relationships" may seem cute at first. It takes a moment of reflection to realize the "joke" these parents want to spoil their daughter with.
Many parents may disapprove of their children's partners, but taking action against their children is very difficult.
In every version of the father of the bride, the father has his reservations, but he doesn't exactly ruin the wedding. And Steve Martin and Andy Garcia's novels were more boring, but still showed a loving family.
Although Ticket to Paradise gives its characters the expected happy ending in a romantic comedy, the premise is still grim. These toxic couples take their toxicity to their daughter.
Clooney and Roberts have quick-hitting chemistry, but the script doesn't give them the substance to back them up. Georgia and David often have the same idea, but David did not take from her.
David's running joke goes back to "Wouldn't it be nice if something bad happened to Georgia?" At one time, the ignorance of the Georgian kitchen was laughed at because professional women could no longer cook.
Ticket to Paradise also finds it amusing that exotic rich Americans think it's an island culture. Jedi's father pretends to invent a strange ritual to scare David, but the screenplay written by Daniel Pepsky and director Ol Parker prefers to use the fears and superstitions of Western culture.
Jade's family prefers to speak her language, but they tell David and Georgia that they are speaking innocently. A family member compares Georgia's horse as a compliment; This was what the filmmakers found unique among the islanders.
The best thing about Ticket to Paradise is that the island banter soothes Georgia and David. They're still venomous, but at least they're not vicious by the end of the movie.
There could be a darker comic book version of this hypothesis. Ticket to Heaven wants to be really fun and great.
Roberts smiled autobiographically and Clooney smiled. A smile couldn't hide his toxicity and made him more cunning.
Fred Topple, who attended Ithaca College's film school, is a UPI entertainment writer based in Los Angeles. He has been a professional film critic since 1999, a Rotten Tomatoes critic since 2001, and a member of the Television Critics Association since 2012. Learn more about his career in entertainment.
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