“Ticket to Paradise” test-screened on 5/12 in Los Angeles. If you remember, this is the Julia Roberts/George Clooney romantic comedy, Kaitlin Devers plays their daughter.
Here’s a reaction:
I have a feeling plenty of audiences will fall head over heels in love with “Ticket to Paradise.” It’s an old-school rom-com but with a 21st century feel to it. I can see someone like Howard Hawks taking a crack at something like this back in the ‘40s. Roberts and Clooney are the divorced parents whose daughter rushes into a relationship and decides to get married in Bali. Roberts and Clooney are like Grant and Russell in “His Girl Friday,” they hate each other but there’s clearly a romantic spark left somewhere in there. There’s also throw witty insults at one another, some of which are hilarious. They both team up to stop the wedding at all costs. From there, it's classic rom-com tropes, and the chemistry between the two leads is so contagious. There are some very funny scenes here, including one involving beer pong and college students. Devers is great as well. Watch out for Lucas Bravo, he steals so many scenes with such limited time on-screen. The filmmaking is very flashy for what amounts to a simple romcom premise but I was sold with almost every moment.
I had to look it up, and a gentleman by the name of Ol Parker directed “Ticket to Paradise,” his past credits include the “Mama Mia” sequel and both “Exotic Marigold Hotel” movies, so don’t expect a masterpiece here. This seems to be purely a Roberts-Clooney vehicle and we all know they have great chemistry together, not to mention that they are close friends in real-life.
The film is set to be released on October 21st, 2022. TIFF will surely pick this one up as a world premiere just to have both stars show up at the festival in September.