Ticket To Paradise

Romcom? (Two Tickets to Paradise)

Ticket to Paradise from the title, seems to promote tourism as compared to being a highly publicized romcom. It’s star caste consists of the dynamic duo of Julia Roberts and George Clooney who have given us movies such as several renditions of the “Ocean’s” movies and Money Monster which sets pretty high standards for this “romcom”. Furthermore, Julia Roberts has set a high precedent for movies based on tourism by giving us a bumper hit like Eat, Pray, Love. Ticket to Paradise chooses to focus on interpersonal relationships shared between parents and children and promotes Bali tourism and culture in tandem with the story line. Ticket to Paradise tackles the sensitive topic of interracial relationships in today’s era which leads to literal manhandling of the couple getting married by completely incompatible parents played by our partners in crime.

Wasting Her Life

Ticket to Paradise takes an in – depth look at the lives of Georgia (Julia Roberts) and David Cotton (George Clooney) who play a couple who got divorced after 5 years of being married. They unite temporarily for their daughter Lily’s (Kaitlyn Dever) graduation who goes off to Bali with her friend Wren (Billie Lourd) for a 3-month holiday. In 2-months they find out that Lily is hell bent on wasting her life away by getting engaged to an Indonesian called Gede (Maxime Bouttier) who runs a seaweed farming business on an exotic Balinese island with his family. Lilly will be settling down with Gede in Bali instead of returning to LA to become a lawyer.

Your happiness is my happiness  

Instead of being happy for their daughter, the narcissistic couple decide to work together to break Lily and Gede’s relationship. The movie reflects Georgia and David as an incompatible couple who are constantly pulling one another down and only find common ground over Lily’s wellbeing. Their camaraderie is evident in sabotaging Gede and Lily’s wedding functions.

Sabotage vs Will you Marry Me

David is quick to inform Gede that his marriage with Lily is not going to last considering the immense cultural and career variations, a harsh reality check for the groom who is just about to get engaged formally. Gede realizes immediately that both of Lily’s parents are against their wedding and struggles to deal with the burden of informing Lily about this. The wedding rings which undergo a separate blessing ceremony according to Balinese tradition, suddenly vamoose into thin air as they are stolen by Georgia as she befriends Gede’s cousin who is the ring bearer. David acting all innocent suggests an excursion to the temple Tanah Lot which is cursed for couples waiting to be married. As a result, Lilly and Gede fall back and do not enter the temple. The major comedy scenes witnessed in Ticket to Paradise are courtesy of Paul (Lucas Bravo) from the popular Netflix series Emily in Paris, who plays Julia Roberts younger pilot boyfriend. His comic timing is bang on as he is on a mission to propose to Georgia but cannot seem to get the timing right. His initial proposal attempt was in the cursed temple Tanah Lot where he gets bitten by a snake as he proposes. Eventually, after a 2^nd attempted proposal where Georgia accidentally headbutts him, she refuses to marry Paul after Lily’s wedding.

Dripping in Sarcasm

Ticket to Paradise attempts to live up to being a romcom through sadistic humor which is highly subjective as certain audiences may not identify with such actions. Audiences who enjoy sarcastic against slapstick comedy will enjoy this movie. On a personal note, I don’t condone watching innocent souls having to pay the price for their parents’ incompatibility. As such, I empathized with Lily and Gede’s character who were caught in collateral damage.

Bali Customs and Tourism

Cast of Ticket to Paradise takes audiences into the core of Bali tourism and culture. The movie offered detailed insights on wedding traditions that are an amalgamation of Indonesian and Hindu customs. The endearing aspect of the movie is watching Lily embracing these traditions beautifully; on the contrary it is disheartening to see how Georgia and David use these traditions to break Lily’s marriage. The movie covers ceremonies such as the ring blessing and the significance of visiting the correct temple in complete detail. The wedding day reflects several customs which Lily and Gede engage in with complete gusto. The significant scene of piercing a dagger through a pandan leaf mat binds the couple in holy matrimony is also covered. Before doing so, they decide to ask for David and Georgia’s OK once again as they understand both don’t approve of the wedding. Ticket to Paradise does well in promoting Bali tourism by shooting varied excerpts of the movie in exotic Balinese islands. Most of the wedding functions are filmed on the beachside making the locales of this romcom a major selling point.

Generation Gap

Ticket to Paradise movie conveys a social message about Gen Z’s who are the most independent generation to date. Julia Roberts and George Clooney behave like they are parents to a daughter who was possibly born as a Gen X or Gen Y because parents of that generation feel it is their birthright to make major decisions about their children even after they have grown up. Gen Z’s were born between 1996 to 2015 to urbanized parents who believed in striking a balance between their burgeoning career and bringing up their offspring. Children born in this time frame have grown up expecting autonomy in making life decisions especially when it comes to choosing a life partner. Lily’s expectation was no different however the tone of the movie highly resembled a tug of war where Lily informed her parents after discovering that Georgia had stolen their wedding rings that if they are not present to support her, they might as well leave. Such an ultimatum should not be issued to Gen Z parents. The ultimate point of exasperation for the sandwiched couple arrives at the end of the movie when David and Georgia decide to reconcile their relationship and remain in Bali by jumping off the boat. The look on Gede and Lily’s face expresses a combination of feelings that words cannot describe.

Conclusion

Ticket to Paradise movie release date in US was on 21^st October 2022 amid mixed reviews. Most critics brandished it by admitting that Julia Roberts and George Clooney are capable of much more which I completely agree with. If you are expecting a suave George Clooney to charm the wits end off Julia Roberts, then you are in for a rude shock. However, if you are looking for mindless sarcasm and sadistic humor then this movie is for you. I resonated with the emotional aspect of this movie as it shows how incompatible couples try to drown their wrongdoings by committing further mistakes against the one person who miraculously turned out right in the family, the sad story of many individuals born in the 70’s and 80’s. On a parting note, I grant this movie a 3/5 rating.

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