Ticket to Paradise

They have long since gone their separate ways and could actually care less about each other. Still, whenever they see each other, a passionate argument erupts between former spouses Georgia (Julia Roberts) and David (George Clooney). When their daughter Lily (Kaitlyn Dever) announces, just days after graduating from college, that she doesn't want to take the job at a prestigious law firm and instead marry a young man she just met in Bali, the feuding parents realize: if they want to keep Lily from making the same mistake they made 25 years ago, they'll have to pull together. And so they travel to picturesque paradise for the wedding, determined to sabotage their daughter's supposed happiness at any cost...

"Ticket to Paradise" is a classic romantic comedy in the best sense of the word. There are no real surprises here, no dramaturgical depth, but plenty of clichés. Director Ol Parker ("Mamma Mia! Here we go again") does not even try to give the story an original touch or to challenge the audience intellectually. Instead, he wants to offer them pure escapism, packed with beautiful images and light-footed slapstick, presented by a charming ensemble of actors. Julia Roberts and George Clooney, who have already appeared together in front of the camera several times, prove that they still harmonize perfectly with each other. From the chemistry that prevails between the two, the film can benefit in every moment.

Because - it must be said - the script is not particularly good. But Clooney and Roberts in particular manage very well to make the most of it. And even if you have seen such a story countless times and you already know in the first minutes exactly how the end will look, this trip to Bali (or to Australia, where large parts of the film were shot), quite fun - at least if you just want to be sprinkled.

Actually, the comedy is exactly what you need from cinema right now: a film that lets you forget the many bad things that are happening in our world right now, that doesn't want to lecture or wallow in gloom. Rather, it's a work of lightness that simply wants to be fun and give its audience a smile. Yes, it's not profound or sophisticated, but that's exactly why it feels really good. Therefore: If you like romantic comedies of the simple and very classic kind, if you just want to take a vacation from everyday life for about two hours and travel to paradise, this work can be warmly recommended. But if you are looking for depth and originality, you should rather buy a ticket for another film. Worth seeing!

An article by Frankfurt-Tipp