It is common knowledge amongst friends of mine, and perhaps not entirely true, that the worst thing I can say about a film is that it’s ‘fine’. Now of recent there have not been too many ‘fine’ movies, not many absolute middle of the road joints, plenty of 6 and 7 out of 10’s, which in a way has been just as disparaging. There is nothing worse afterall than a film that is almost solid and that lacks just that final kick to actually make it good or great, but now I have Ticket to Paradise, which really was just fine. However I don’t want to give this film anywhere near the credit it doesn’t deserve, but a fine film in this case may very well not actually be that bad a thing.
Ol Parker of Mamma Mia 2... fame, I guess, returns to the screen here writing and directing another travelogue with some stunning visuals and a few wonderful tax credits I’m sure from the locations of the film, but not much to it that would actually qualify as good writing or good directing. But again that is far too mean, this film does have a few nice beauty shots and the like, and the screenplay does have a few good gags here and there, but overall Ol Parker just does nothing to elevate this material that is at the end of the day pretty average and lacklustre stuff. All of the elevation, and there is plenty, comes from the reason I don’t think declaring this film as average and fine is too bad a thing. For this is a joyous star vehicle. Just look at the poster... It’s just George Clooney and Julia Roberts. What did my mum know heading into the film? Nothing, just that it’s Clooney and Roberts. At the end of the day, does the film have much going for it beyond these two leads? No, it really is just Clooney and Roberts. Well, no, Sean Lynch as a foolish Frenchman, Kaitlyn Deaver as a loved up daughter and Billie Lourd as a chaotic friend all have their moments, but this film has two saving graces, and these graces make the film as enjoyable as it sometimes can be, and again that is only Clooney and Roberts. Beyond them it’s just not funny and the script is incredibly lacklustre, it’s just so painfully average in every way, bar these two shining stars and even at its worst we are reminded why (Clooney in particular, sorry my biases are finally coming out) are some of our greatest stars in the industry.
It’s just not the sort of film we get anymore and is it fair that I’m giving this film a lot more credit for just doing something that I wished studios did a lot more often? Perhaps. But beyond that this film really is a perfect example of how stars can elevate the average film, something that I can’t think of the last example we got. A film where the draw is purely the two lead stars. Now do I wish the film wasn’t just these two and that the rest of the film could bare its own and actually be good? Of course I do, let’s not be ridiculous here, but it is a shining light in some ways and for that I feel happy to have watched it in the cinema, not on a bloody streamer, and with family and friends. Is it any good? No, not really. Will cinema-goers get behind it? I hope so. This is the first time I am wholly recommending a 5/10 film. I feel contradictory and all sorts of patronising of sorts, but that is ultimately the conclusion this review is coming to.
Absolutely average 5/10, closer to a 6 than a 4, but that’s really just splitting hairs. It’s a return to the sort of perfectly average rom-com we’d get in a studio comedy world that just didn’t exist anymore. Two stars and some great up and comers elevating as best as they can, a script that bar a few moments of quality here and there, and a few good gags can’t help but overall feel empty and not especially great. Clooney and Roberts are class acts, but Ticket to Paradise is unfortunately not the return to the star vehicle that I certainly hoped it would be.
P.S. I would like to thank two other writers on this film, my mum and our family friend Clare, who repeatedly added their own jokes and commentary on the film and led to some of the best laughs. Particularly when my mum asked a question about the plot, only for Clare to then ask her own question; “Why doesn’t this film have any jokes in it?”
- - Thomas Carruthers
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