A formulaic double rom-com as divorced parents rush overseas to prevent their daughter making the same mistake they did 20+ years earlier.
A trip to Bali to celebrate graduation sees Lili Cotton (Kaitlyn Dever – Booksmart, Dear Evan Hansen) fall for the young and handsome local, Gede (Maxime Bouttier – Hantu Gunung Kawi, Meet Me After Sunset). With his successful family business and its idyllic beachside setting, Lili decides to stay rather than return to a Chicago legal career. Cue the divorced, non-speaking parents George Clooney and Julia Roberts jumping on the next flight to prevent the planned marriage.
It’s the younger couple who are the adults as Clooney and Roberts combine to do what they can to stop the union. But, it being a beach-set rom-com with plenty of sunrises and sunsets along with ever-smiling natives and luxury hotels, Ticket to Paradise never takes itself seriously. A series of foolish, predictable scenarios are just-about saved by the bickering divorcees – but the reality is writer/director Ol Parker (Mamma Mia: Here We Go Again, Now Is Good) in an attempt to produce light, feel-good escapism has presented an embarassingly silly rom-com devoid of comedy.
Rating: 47%
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