Ticket to Paradise Parent Guide

Lily Cotton (Kaitlyn Dever) has more to worry about than the average bride. After graduating from law school, she traveled to Bali with her best friend, Wren (Billie Lourd), for some R&R. Instead, she met Gede (Maxime Bouttier), fell in love, and is getting married in four days. It’s not the speedy nuptials that make Lily nervous: her parents are tying her up in knots.

David and Georgia Cotton (George Clooney and Julia Roberts) are enough to daunt the staunchest heart. After four years of marriage, they divorced and have spent the subsequent years in a state of simmering hostility. The only thing these parents can agree on is that they want their daughter to be happy. And since they are both convinced that marrying a seaweed farmer in Bali is not the path to long-term happiness, David and Georgia decide to put aside their rancor, work together, and break up Lily’s engagement.

Let me be clear– this is a terrible plot. David and Georgia are thoroughly unlikable people who snark constantly and play one-upmanship games throughout. They are selfish, bitter, and unforgiving to one another and deceitful and heartless in their treatment of their daughter. Agreeing to launch a “Trojan horse” operation, they pretend to be excited about the wedding while stealing the wedding rings and trying to undermine Gede’s faith in his fiancée’s long-term devotion. Listening to David tell Gede that he will never be enough for a woman as well-educated and ambitious as Lily is stomach-churning. It’s cruel and carries what looks to me like a racist subtext.

The only thing that saves this dumpster-fire of a script is the cast. In a truly remarkable piece of cinematic alchemy, Julia Roberts and George Clooney turn this awful story into something watchable. Not good, but watchable. Julia Robert’s smile has a dazzling radiance and when it’s combined with moments of vulnerability or contrition, it makes even the most unappealing character seem capable of redemption. Clooney doesn’t give his finest performance here - there’s a little too much jaw-clenching in place of believable emotion – but he’s an adequate foil for Roberts. As for Kaitlyn Dever and Maxime Bouttier, the script doesn’t require much more than sweet naiveté, which they deliver with the appropriate amount of gentle charm.

Romantic comedies continue to exist as a film genre not because they provide realistic stories but because they offer an escape. Ticket to Paradise is very successful from that perspective. It offers little negative content (aside from some heavy drinking and a game of beer pong played with hard liquor) and has minimal sexual material or violence. More to the point, it takes place in stunning locations. I was all set to come home and start planning my fantasy vacation in Bali until I learned that the movie was filmed in Australia. I have no doubt that this film will tick the boxes for escape-seeking audiences. The locations are indeed beautiful, but the company leaves something to be desired.