Paradise should be more inviting

Ticket to Paradise is a romantic comedy about divorced parents Georgia (Julia Roberts) and David Cotton (George Clooney) who hate each other’s guts and disagree on all but one thing, that their daughter Lily (Kaitlyn Dever) should not get married to a seaweed farmer, Gede (Maxime Bouttier) in Bali. Lily has made the decision to go ahead with the marriage after only knowing Gede for two months, and her parents rush off to Indonesia to stop the wedding, but find themselves challenged by renewed feelings that conflict with their reasons for divorce.

Watching the trailer of the movie, I had higher expectations but I was disappointed. I expected the movie to be filled with laughs, but I only enjoyed it when Georgia and David were disagreeing.

On the upside, the movie has excellent cinematography and insight on what a wedding looks like in Balinese culture. After seeing this movie, Bali is definitely on my Bucket List. From the flowers, sand, sunset, hotel rooms overlooking the water, trees and even the leaves, the views were all so beautiful. Although this film greatly represented wedding traditions from the Balinese culture, at times it did come across as poking fun of by overusing strange-new-land jokes.

I would not choose to see this movie again. Although I am a huge Rom-Com fan and was disappointed, others who typically are into the genre or are fans of Julia Roberts or George Clooney may see the appeal of this movie, but it was not for me.

Ticket to Paradise is directed by Ol Parker, who has also directed Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again and The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel. Ticket to Paradise is rated PG-13.