Only In Theaters!!!!

 

These days, those are the three words I want to see in any movie trailer.

Only In Theaters.

It forces you out of the house and away from your 60 inch television on which movies were not supposed to be enjoyed.  It compels you to partake in the communal experience of seeing a film.   Laughing together at the right parts.  Sighing as one at the other right parts.   

In essence, being part of an audience.

Such is the case with "Ticket to Paradise" and there are those three words right there on the ad.  A movie you're supposed to go out and see.   With two solid performers who can elevate any material from mediocrity.   In this instance, Julia Roberts and George Clooney do their level best to raise the quality meter beyond the usual sappy traits of a romcom.  So what if they don't completely succeed?

You're in a theater.

Yes, "Ticket to Paradise" likely was made because Julia and George wanted to get out of the house post-COVID and spend a month in Bali.  Who wouldn't?  Indeed, the movie itself is tripped up by a script that got a C+ instead of a B+.   And, despite an obvious friendship, the two leads don't seem to have all the chemistry you would expect.   But, like I said...

You're in a theater.

In this one, Julia and George, now old enough to have a grown daughter, really have had zero of a relationship since their kid was born.   As a matter of fact, they hate each other.   But their kid has gone on vacation to Bali, met a hunky seaweed farmer, and now is summoning Mom and Dad to come for the wedding.   Of course, you know where this is going.   The problem is that the road getting there is a bumpy and uneven one, despite the gallant tries of Roberts and Clooney.   It's like that tired old car that needs to turn over about ten times before it gets moving.   By the time the car is humming, you have forgotten where you were going.

But, like I said...

Who cares?  I'M IN A THEATER!!!!

LEN'S RATING:  Two-and-a-half stars.

Dinner last night:  Hamburger.