Ticket to Paradise (2022)

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     You ever see a movie and feel "I've seen this a hundred times, but this is a very well done version of that." That's Ticket to Paradise, a delightful little family romcom that does nothing new but does it damn well.

     George Clooney and Julia Roberts are a divorced couple constantly bickering when forced to be together to support their daughter. The daughter graduates law school and goes off to vacation in Bali, meeting the love of her life and deciding to stay. George and Julia go off to stop the wedding and along the way rekindle that loving feeling.

     The cast and the location are the best part, with one probably being the reason the other is involved. And no, I don't mean Bali let them film there to hang out with George Clooney. Clooney plays his normal charming sarcastic dilf character as he does, but there's moments when he loses the facade and you see the deep regret he has about how things went with his ex. Julia also gets in with her no-nonsense mom role but lets down her guard and that smile shines and yeah, you know she loves him. 

     The supporting cast does just that, supports the two leads with humor and witty dialog that at times is hilarious. Special shout out to… well, no, everyone here is good and cast just right. There's not one scene where I thought "well, I guess this assholes's back."

     The only real thing to dislike about this movie is the lack of background for our leads. We know they dislike each other, but never see their past beyond a few nice moments of them talking about it. Besides beer pong, it would have been nice to see how well they worked together. They talk about the house by the lake that burned, but we never see that or get a chance to feel the connection they are rekindling. 

     That being said, the young couple romance also gets the short end of the stick. It's very capital R Romance, with dialog like "I'm surrounded by the beauty of the islands but all I can look at is you" that is very sweet and young love but also in my old age makes me feel kinda eye-rolly. The more grounded older love story, Clooney telling Roberts "I never sold the land our house was supposed to be on" resonated more which is good because that's our main couple. 

     Overall, I had fun but won't be going back to this on any "best romcom" lists.