Ticket to Paradise
I think “Ticket to Paradise” stands to be a big hit with audiences, and not necessarily because of George Clooney and Julia Roberts. Sure, they will drive people who want to see the “Ocean’s Eleven” pair back together to theatres, but Ol Parker’s film isn’t built to coast strictly on them alone. The film is about a moment in time that can be difficult for parents to take- when they have to be there for their children in spite of their own feelings. After a while, you worry less about whether Clooney and Roberts will get back together, and more about whether they’ll get on their daughter’s side with her choices.
One of my most vivid memories of my mom hating a film coming out of it was when we saw “My Best Friend’s Wedding” 25 years ago. Why did she hate it- she certainly had a good time watching it. When it didn’t end the way she wanted, the way she expected it to go, it bothered her. Of course, when a movie zigs instead of zags, that’s when you can create something special. (Seeing her watch it on repeat off of Netflix earlier this year was amusing, and also a sign of how her long-term memories don’t hold like they used to.) I can see people who go in expecting one thing about this film not really digging it, but I can also see why the film works winning them over.
Clooney and Roberts played David and Georgia, the divorced parents of Lily, played by Kaitlyn Dever. Lily is getting ready for college graduation, and then a summer in Bali with her best friend, Wren (Billie Lourd), and David and Georgia have let their hate of one another simmer so long that, when they have to sit together for Lily’s graduation, they can’t even do it quietly. Just wait until Lily meets a man (Maxime Bouttier) in Bali and decides to get married quickly, saying she no longer wants to law firm job in Chicago waiting for her when she gets home. Oddly enough, David and Georgia can agree on one thing- stopping Lily’s wedding is a must.
I know my wedding was not easy for my mother- it had nothing to do with who I was marrying, but everything she wanted my wedding to be was going away. The timing was too quick, the venue wasn’t what she wanted, and other things just went wrong in her mind. I don’t know that she ever got over it really, but it had been a while even before her dementia really took hold that it mattered to her. She loves me, she loves Meredith, and she knew we were best for one another. “Ticket to Paradise” is about parents who make their children’s wedding about them, without thinking about what matters to their children. It’s a lot of fun to watch Clooney and Roberts pair up to try and put aside their differences for this one thing, even if it’s ultimately the wrong thing, and I like the ways the film deals with how this is communicated- or not communicated- to other people. Throughout the film, we hear about what happened to David and Georgia’s marriage, why it didn’t survive from each person’s perspective, and why this is such a difficult time for them. And I get it. What horrifies me is what music is considered “old school” during this film’s beer pong sequence; my God, that is sobering for this 45-year-old.
Roberts and Clooney are the engines behind what works in this film. Dever and Bouttier are fine as the soon-to-be newlyweds, but they seem to be a young couple enjoying their time together more than people madly in love who must marry, and Billie Lourd steals some good scenes along the way. The film ends how you’ll probably expect it to, and honestly- I’m not sure how I feel about all of it. I liked how it wasn’t all-in on the “will they get back together” energy you’d expect; in a way, it reminded me- in the best way- of Roberts and Clooney’s work together in “Ocean’s Eleven,” even though that was all set up to get her back. Here, I would have liked them simply being about getting to a point where they’re happy for their daughter. I did think “Ticket to Paradise” did that very well, and in an entertaining way.
