“Tickets To Paradise” Review: “Mamma Mia” Meets “Crazy Rich Asians”

“Right place. Right time. Right circumstance.” From the same director that brought you “Mamma Mia: Here We Go Again!” Ol Parker’s “Ticket To Paradise” is a heartfelt film that will bring much laughter, tears, and excitement to audiences.

“Tickets To Paradise” follows Georgia and David Cotton (Julia Roberts and George Clooney), a divorced couple, who are unable to stand within two inches of each other, travel to Bali after learning that their daughter Lily (Kaitlyn Dever) is planning to get married to an Indonesian seaweed farmer named Gede (Maxime Bouttier), whom she just met. Together, they work to stop their daughter from making the same mistake they thought they did twenty-five years ago.

The film is set in Bali, Indonesia – Malaysia’s neighbouring country! Going into the movie, we might expect nothing but orientalism, where it stereotypes or simplifies Asian culture to a fault. But astonishingly, it is the total opposite. To our surprise, there were many cultural aspects appropriately inserted into the film such as the Balinese wedding customs like filing their canine tooth and even stabbing a hand-woven coconut leaf with a dagger! It was such a refreshing thing to watch and learn on the big screens.

“Tickets To Paradise” has excellent cinematography featuring so many beautiful aesthetic beach locations, giving an unrealistic dreamscape look to the film. Throughout the film, Parker attempts to showcase Bali as one of the most beautiful locations on Earth, and we have to say that he has succeeded with such grace that it immediately gives viewers the wanderlust bug!

The cast of “Tickets To Paradise” brings both veteran and amateur actors to the big screen, and it was undeniably a great decision! Their chemistry was not at all awkward, even with the rookie Indonesian-French actor, Maxime Bouttier. Lily and Gede are such a cute couple on-screen, we even hope they make it off-screen! Even the character Paul (Lucas Bravo from “Emily In Paris“) whom we assume is the comic relief, managed to play off his character fairly well.

Academy Award Winners George Clooney and Julia Roberts displayed astonishing performances, stealing the spotlight in every single scene they appear in. Effortlessly funny and quick-witted, their performances touched the hearts of many. It is no wonder they are masters at acting as the duo  managed to get laughs for the simplest things! While watching the film, there were heartfelt scenes with them that even managed to get a tear or two out of this writer!

Watching “Tickets To Paradise” immediately reminds us of two films, “Mamma Mia” mixed with “Crazy Rich Asians” minus, of course, the songs and dances. But the underlying message remains the same for all three films: Love conquers all. Therefore the only drawback of this beautiful film is its predictability. Once viewers get a rounded view of the characters and storyline, the conclusion was too predictable. But then, this film managed to tickle our funny bone and its heartwarming moments won us over.

So, if you are a fan of “Mamma Mia” or “Crazy Rich Asians” or if you are simply just a fan of light-hearted rom-coms, “Tickets To Paradise” should definitely be on your must-watch list! Easily one of the cutest movies this year that we would recommend anyone to watch! The film is set to release on 6th October at any cinema near you. Check out the trailer here;

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Puteri Teja contributed to this article.