"There's not going to be a wedding. I'm not going to let her throw her life away on some insanely handsome guy, who happens to live in the most beautiful place on earth. And yes, I do know how that sounds. But I'm still right."
— Georgia Cotton
Ticket to Paradise is a 2022 Romantic Comedy directed by Ol Parker.
The Cottons, architect David Cotton (George Clooney) and art gallerist Georgia Cotton (Julia Roberts), got married young and acrimoniously divorced a few years later. But when their beloved only daughter Lily Cotton (Kaitlyn Dever) announces an engagement to Gede May (Maxime Bouttier), an Balinese seaweed farmer she's only known for a month, and expresses a desire to give up her fledgling law career and stay in Bali with him, David and Georgia must now team up to stop Lily from making the same mistakes they did...even if they reconsider their mutual hatred along the way.
The film also stars Billie Lourd as Lily's friend Wren and Lucas Bravo as Georgia's boyfriend Paul.
It was released in the UK on September 20, 2022 and in the US on October 21, 2022.
Ticket to Paradise contains examples of:
- Amazingly Embarrassing Parents: During Lily's college graduation ceremony, David and Georgia repeatedly try to outdo each other in their praise of her, to Lily's clear annoyance and embarrassment. Some further dialogue implies that them trying to one-up each other is a regular occurence.
- Amicable Exes: Discussed. David says that he and Georgia are not friendly exes like one might see on television, but the complete opposite: they still hate each other two decades after the divorce to the point that they can't tone down their mutual vitriol in polite society.
- Armor-Piercing Question: After Lily confronts David and Georgia about their attempts to sabotage the wedding, the two of them try to justify it by explaining they don't want her making the biggest mistake of her life like they did which leads to this:Lily: I'm the biggest mistake of your life?!
- Bedmate Reveal: Bitter exes David and Georgia freak out upon waking up after a drunk night out and finding themselves sharing a bed. Georgia is wearing David's clothes and David isn't wearing pants. They have to remember exactly what happened to assure themselves that they didn't do anything. To make matters worse, Georgia's boyfriend chooses that moment to knock on the door and surprise her with his presence.
- Best Friend: Lily's college roommate Wren is also her best friend, and she provides a contrast to the sensible and down-to-earth Lily by being a Hard-Drinking Party Girl. Nonetheless, they're very close and Wren even says at one point that she loves Lily like a sister.
- Disneyland Dad: During their argument at the hotel Georgia accuses David of getting to be the 'fun dad' who'd come in sometimes and take Lily places and buy her things while Georgia had to be the one making the rules.
- Do You Want to Haggle?: While at a Balinese marketplace the upper-middle class Georgia is encouraged by her daughter and the shopkeeper to haggle for a purchase of cloth. Georgia is hesitant, saying they should just give her a fair price, but they insist, saying it's part of the experience.Shopkeeper: Tourists like it when we haggle. Americans like make good deals. 800,000 rupiah?
Georgia: Okay.
Lily: No, no. You say 500,000. Just go with it, Mom.
Georgia: Um… 500,000.
Shopkeeper: Enough, please. You’re killing me. Seven.
Georgia: Six. Or I’m walking away.
Shopkeeper: We have a deal. [chuckles] - Everyone Looks Sexier if French: Upon meeting Georgia's handsome younger French boyfriend, Beth-Anne comments that the French are great lovers.David: That's a rumor they started about themselves.
- Fauxreigner: David briefly pretends to be an Italian tourist who doesn't understand English to deflect an overly friendly seatmate on the plane.
- Fourth-Date Marriage: David and Georgia are aghast to learn that their daughter plans to move to a foreign country and give up a law career to marry a guy she's only known for a month. Despite her parents' misgivings, Lily goes through with the wedding.
- Friendly, Playful Dolphin: Gede takes the Cottons and Wren out to swim with dolphins. While the pod they find is friendly to the women, David jumps in aggressively and gets attacked. In the groin! Gede has to assure him that it's never happened before.
- Hilarious Outtakes: Bloopers play over the credits. We get scenes like Bravo showing up to a take with Clooney in a Batman costume, the flight attendant spilling champagne on Clooney, and multiple outtakes of Clooney and Roberts trying to outdo each other's praise in the graduation scene.
- It's All About Me: Both David and Georgia only think about their relationship and marriage in terms of how it affected themselves personally. Lily reminding them that their marriage is the only reason she even exists is what causes them to have a Jerkass Realization.
- Maybe Ever After: Former bitter exes David and Georgia are giggly and hand-holding at the end of the film when they decide to stay in Bali together, and Georgia's now single again, but it's unknown if they get back together.
- Misplaced-Names Poster: The poster has George Clooney's name over Julia Roberts and vice versa.
- The Missus and the Ex: Paul, Georgia's current boyfriend, is the pilot who flies her and her ex-husband David to Bali, leading to awkwardness on the plane. Paul returns to Bali in the third act, leading to even more awkwardness... especially because Paul proposes, to David and eventually Georgia's distate.
- New Old Flame: Zigzagged. David and Georgia are divorced and hate each other, but slowly reconcile while stopping their daughter's impulsive wedding, eventually getting The Big Damn Kiss while watching the sunrise... only to break apart and laugh at how horrible it felt. However, Georgia breaks it off with her boyfriend Paul and the two decide to stay on Bali for a bit longer, clearly on much better terms.
- Not What It Looks Like: David and Georgia wake up next to each other, him without pants, after a night out drinking. Takes a while, but they remember it's actually because they arrived too drunk to split, and he jumped in the pool and thus his clothes were wet.
- Rescue Romance: While they're not in life-threatening peril, Lily and Wren end up swimming in the ocean and realize that their tour boat has left them behind. They plan to just swim back to the island, but end up getting picked up by Gede, who happens to be sailing his boat nearby. It does not take long for Lily and Gede to develop a romance.
- Romantic False Lead: Georgia's younger boyfriend Paul is a pretty blatant example of this, and he ends up getting dumped by Georgia after repeated failed attempts to propose to her.
- Rom Com Job: David is an architect, Georgia is an art gallery owner, Lily is a recent law school graduate with a job at a prestigious Chicago law firm already lined up, and Paul is a pilot.
- Scenery Porn: The beautiful landscape helps show why Lily would want to stay in Bali.
- Self-Serving Memory: David and Georgia recount the story of David's proposal differently. While both accounts agree that it had been at Georgia's graduation and she had gotten a job offer out of state, the other details differ in ways that benefit the teller:
- According to David, he had accepted the news of her departure with grace, she was crying Tears of Joy onstage, and her parents said they were too young. Also, he's very prone to romantic gestures.
- According to Georgia, David freaked out upon hearing of her job, she was humiliated onstage, and her parents said she could do better. Also, he never did anything romantic.
- Snark-to-Snark Combat: David and Georgia have grown to hate each other since the divorce, and just about every dialogue between them is a warfare of bitter sarcasm.
- Suck Out the Poison: Paul is bitten by a snake on Tanah Lot and nearly passes out. Georgia bites his ankle to suck out the poison and is seemingly no worse for wear besides briefly slurring words.
- With This Ring: Georgia and David steal the wedding rings in an attempt to sabotage the wedding. The couple simply gets new rings.
- Working with the Ex: A couple that still hates each other twenty years after their divorce form an uneasy alliance to stop their daughter from impulsively marrying a man she's only known a month. They eventually reconcile.
- You Have GOT to Be Kidding Me!: David mutters "you gotta be kidding me" after seeing his ex-wife arrive at the seat next to him: both at Lily's graduation and on the flight to Bali.
"Why save the good stuff for later?"
