Ticket to Paradise is a star vehicle for George Clooney and Julia Roberts

There’s only one reason to buy a ticket to George Clooney and Julia Roberts’ new movie. Well, technically, there are two.

Oh, hi there! Picture: Universal Pictures

We all know what’s going on here, why anyone would buy a ticket to Ticket to Paradise. The glittering power of the world’s biggest movie stars is a powerful allure.

Yes, there are more “celebrities” than ever thanks to social media influencers, an explosion of streaming titles and niche fandoms. But nothing quite beats old fashioned movie stars, the kind who can capture and hold our attention with the start of a smile.

And if George Clooney and Julia Roberts aren’t in that elite group, then who is?

Ticket to Paradise is a reunion for Clooney and Roberts and their on-screen chemistry didn’t miss a beat. Everything that sparked in Ocean’s Eleven, Ocean’s Twelve and Money Monster, crackles in Ticket to Paradise.

This movie, directed by Ol Parker (Mamma Mia 2), is a star vehicle and little else. But that’s also the only reason you would go see it, so if it’s a game of expectations, everyone more or less wins.

Movie stars. Picture: Universal

Because Clooney and Roberts are on form. This is exactly the genre in which they can dial up their charms to 12, turn on the full wattage of their charisma and distract you from the fact that the movie itself is generic, predictable and loses momentum about midway through.

But there are often such low expectations of rom-coms that even a passable, formulaic one can be seen as to have fulfilled its promise just by existing. And if you add Clooney and Roberts, then it’s a cut above merely amiable.

Architect David (Clooney) and gallery owner Georgia (Roberts) have been divorced for almost two decades. It wasn’t an amicable break-up and if it wasn’t for their daughter Lily (Kaitlyn Dever), the two would rather they never see each other again.

When Lily tells them she’s going to marry Gede (Maxime Bouttier), a man she met only weeks earlier while on holiday in Bali, David and Georgia hightail it to the island paradise to stop the nuptials.

On this, they’re united, convinced that Lily is going to repeat the same impulsive mistake they made decades earlier. While they come from a place of love, the two scheme to sabotage the wedding all while pretending to be happy for Lily.

Maxime Bouttier and Kaitlyn Dever. Picture: Universal

It’s a typical rom-com plot involving sneaky plans, quirky family and friends – a supporting cast which includes Billie Lourde as Lily’s friend and Lucas Bravo (Emily in Paris) as Georgia’s earnest young pilot boyfriend – and the expectation that everything will work exactly how you think it will.

There’s comfort in those expectations. Sometimes you want to be surprised, and sometimes you just want two attractive movie stars to make googly eyes at each other while standing against the backdrop of pristine beaches and blue skies (the movie was shot in the naturally blessed Whitsundays, standing in for Bali).

The strength of Ticket to Paradise is easily Clooney and Roberts’ playful chemistry and the rhythm of their dialogue. They snipe at each other like absolute pros but it’s not annoying because it’s also clear there’s a history between the two characters, partly leeched off the history between the two actors.

Their dynamic is in the same league as Cary Grant and Rosalind Russell, Katharine Hepburn and Spencer Tracy, and Clark Gable and Claudette Colbert. There’s a reason why this particular formula has worked since time immemorial – or since, you know, the advent of movies. It’s delightful.

Rating: 3/5

Ticket to Paradise is in cinemas now

Originally published as Ticket to Paradise is a star vehicle for George Clooney and Julia Roberts