The parents’ trap
TICKET TO PARADISE Cert 12A ★★★ In cinemas on Tuesday
YOU may think you’ve seen this one before. A story about warring exes forced to travel together to an exotic island feels like something that might have packed picture houses decades ago. But, while unashamedly oldfashioned, this pleasant diversion feels perfectly suited for the troubled back-end of 2022.
In roles that during the 1960s might have attracted Rock Hudson and Doris Day, George Clooney plays architect David and Julia Roberts, his art dealer ex-wife Georgia.
The battle of wits begins as they reunite for the first time in decades to watch their daughter Lily (Kaitlyn Dever) graduate from law school.
After some amusing back and forth and a bout of competitive cheering, the pair say goodbye. This time, they vow, forever.
But the gods aren’t quite done with them yet. During a post-graduation holiday in Bali with her best pal Wren (Billie Lourd), Lily falls for dashing local seaweed farmer Gede (Maxime Bouttier).
Instead of coming home, she shocks both parents by inviting them to Bali for her four-day Indonesian wedding.
After finding themselves on neighbouring seats in the plane, the pair finally agree on something – Lily can’t make the same mistake they made 25 years ago. So they hatch a plan they codename “Trojan Horse”. They will pretend they approve of the marriage but secretly try to sabotage it.
Director Ol Parker (The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel) doesn’t need plot twists or edgy jokes. He just plonks two A-listers in glamorous settings, sets up some amusing and mildly perilous problems and lets their movie-star charisma carry us through to his gooey finale.
With gas bills rising, war raging and monarchs changing, there’s something comforting about a film as undemanding and predictably entertaining as this.
They hatch a plan, pretending they approve of the marriage but secretly sabotaging it