Movie review: ‘Ticket to Paradise’ is too toxic to laugh

Julia Roberts and George Clooney star in “Ticket to Paradise.” Picture courtesy of Common Studios

When Lily will get engaged to Gede (Maxime Bouttier) on trip in Bali, David and Georgia should see one another once more on the wedding ceremony. They intend to cease Lily from making the error they really feel they made marrying one another.

The final premise of “bickering dad and mom intrude of their daughter’s relationship” might sound cute at first. It solely takes a second’s consideration to comprehend the “joke” is these dad and mom wish to sabotage their daughter.

Many dad and mom might disapprove of their youngsters’s companions, however there is a great distance between that and actively working in opposition to their youngsters.

In any model of Father of the Bride, the daddy has reservations however by no means outright sabotaged the marriage. And the Steve Martin and Andy Garcia variations had been a lot sarcastic, however nonetheless portrayed a loving household.

Even when Ticket to Paradise offers its characters the predictable glad rom-com ending, the premise remains to be disagreeable. This poisonous couple brings their toxicity to their daughter.

Clooney and Roberts have chemistry delivering fast hearth banter, however the script does not give them materials to help it. Georgia and David typically have the identical thought, however David will not settle for it from her.

A standard joke of David’s quantities to “would not or not it’s nice if one thing unhealthy occurred to Georgia?” At one level he mocks Georgia’s unfamiliarity with a kitchen, as a result of rattling these girls with their careers who do not know methods to prepare dinner anymore.

Ticket to Paradise additionally thinks it is hilarious to point out how bizarre the wealthy Individuals assume island tradition is. Gede’s father even pretends to make up an outlandish customized to scare David, however the script by Daniel Pipski and director Ol Parker enjoys exploiting Western tradition’s fears and prejudices additional.

Gede’s household loves to talk their language however inform David and Georgia they’re saying one thing innocuous. One member of the family compares Georgia to a horse as a praise, as a result of the filmmakers assume that is a wacky factor for islanders to do.

The very best factor that may be mentioned for Ticket to Paradise is that the island shenanigans finally, lastly, calm Georgia and David down. They’re nonetheless poisonous however at the least they’re rather less aggressive in the direction of the tip of the movie.

There is likely to be a darkish comedy model of this premise that might work. Ticket to Paradise undoubtedly desires it to be enjoyable and lovable.

Roberts does her trademark chortle and Clooney his signature smirk. Smiling by means of it could actually’t conceal the toxicity and solely makes it extra insidious.

Fred Topel, who attended movie college at Ithaca School, is a UPI leisure author based mostly in Los Angeles. He has been knowledgeable movie critic since 1999, a Rotten Tomatoes critic since 2001 and a member of the Tv Critics Affiliation since 2012. Learn extra of his work in Leisure.