Ticket to Paradise

My sister and I used to have the tradition of seeing a movie on Halloween but we haven't done it for a few years.  We decided to revive the tradition last night and took Sean and Tashena with us to see Ticket to Paradise.  I'm not a big fan of romantic comedies (my sister picked the movie) but I ended up really liking this!  After Lily Cotton (Kaitlyn Dever) graduates from law school she goes on vacation to Bali with her best friend Wren (Billie Lourd).  She falls in love with island life and with a local seaweed farmer named Gede (Maxime Bouttier).  When her bitterly divorced parents Georgia (Julia Roberts) and David (George Clooney) learn that Lily wants to give up her law career to marry Gede, they put aside their differences and race to Bali in order to stop her from making the same mistake they made all those years ago.  Hijinks ensue!  This movie is formulaic and totally predictable but I have to admit that it is really enjoyable!  There are several things that elevate it above its commonplace premise.  First, the tropical scenery is absolutely gorgeous and provides a nice bit of escapism.  I can certainly see why Lily wants to give up her law career and stay there forever.  I especially loved the scenes where the characters are swimming with dolphins!  Second, Billie Lourd adds a lot of comic relief (she often steals the spotlight from Dever) and I laughed out loud at many of her antics.  I propose that she be cast as the free-spirited sidekick in every comedy from now on!  Finally, mega-stars George Clooney and Julia Roberts are unbelievably appealing and their chemistry together is palpable!  I loved all of their bickering and all of the slapstick comedy (especially during an epic round of beer pong).  The two of them were actually the reason I agreed to see this movie and they did not disappoint.  The four of us had a lot of fun watching this (we all agreed that we knew exactly what was going to happen but that it didn't matter) and I recommend it to fans of romantic comedies!