It might not break the rom-com mould, but the Whitsunday-filmed Ticket To Paradise is a charming flick with one major drawcard: Julia Roberts and George Clooney.
It’s hard sometimes for reviewers to remember that not every film needs be a Citizen Cane. Movies can be fun. And that’s certainly what audiences are in for when they watch Ol Parker’s fourth directorial outing.
The star-studded film shot across Queensland last year brings Clooney and Roberts back together again. This time, they pair up as a divorced couple travelling to Bali, attempting to stop their daughter (Kaitlyn Dever) from making the same “mistake” they made 25 years before.
That mistake being rushing into a marriage which, unceremoniously, ended down the line.
And certainly, from reading the premise, I think we all know where this is going. But like I said, that’s not the appeal, it’s the Academy Award Winning actors that make this movie. Clooney and Roberts have always had an exceptional chemistry – a real life friendship never hurts that – and Ticket To Paradise is no different.
The world they inhabit in the film is one of the old-style romantic comedies. There’s an earnest nostalgia to it that reminds us of late ‘90s or early ‘00s darlings of the genre like 10 Things I Hate About You, or – most especially – 50 First Dates.
Most of the movie magic from Ticket To Paradise is born from our own sense that we miss films just like it. When do we get to see genuine movie stars – and bless me, there are very of those left – together on screen? And certainly, when do you see a movie like this in theatres anymore? The streaming age has relegated the rom-com and its cheesiness to the back-pages.
Shot in real locations – including The Whitsundays itself – and brimming with absolute, unadulterated fun; chemistry and star power have certainly made me buy a Ticket To Paradise. Will you?
Ticket To Paradise is showing now at the Bowen Summergarden Cinema.
Director Ol Parker, Julia Roberts, and George Clooney filmed parts of the absolute treat that is Ticket to Paradise on Hamilton Island
Review By Declan Durrant
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