Book a ‘Ticket to Paradise’ and Get Ready for Your Anti-Romantic Frown to Be Turned Upside-Down

October 19, 2022

jmunney Cinema, Movie Reviews , , , , , , , 1 Comment

Tickets, please. (CREDIT: Vince Valitutti/Universal Studios)

Starring: George Clooney, Julia Roberts, Kaitlyn Dever, Billie Lourd, Maxime Bouttier, Lucas Bravo

Director: Ol Parker

Running Time: 104 Minutes

Rating: PG-13 for Some Beachy Language, Including the Limit of One F-Bomb

Release Date: October 21, 2022 (Theaters)

What’s It About?: Are David and Georgia Cotton (George Clooney and Julia Roberts) the most acrimoniously divorced couple in history? The opening sequence of Ticket to Paradise sure leads us to think so. As do all the other early scenes, and all the middle ones as well. Maybe things will be different by the end? Their daughter Lily (Kaitlyn Dever) sure hopes so, because she’s getting married to a guy she just met in Bali (Maxime Bouttier) during a post-law school graduation vacation, and she’d kind of like to have their blessing. Meanwhile, Lily’s best friend Wren (Billie Lourd) is on hand to get constantly boozed up. And Georgia’s much younger flight attendant boyfriend Paul (Lucas Bravo) is also there to constantly worship her. What could possibly go wrong?! Or maybe, the better question is, what could possibly go right…

What Made an Impression?: I really didn’t think this was going to be a movie about a divorced couple falling back in love. The trailers had me convinced that they thoroughly hated each other’s guts to the point that there was simply no hope for reconciliation. And the first half of the actual movie didn’t make me reconsider. At all. David and Georgia are simply their worst selves when they’re around each other. Or just talking about each other. And even when they team up to sabotage their daughter’s nuptials, there’s hardly any tension of mystery to the mess-around, as Lily knows what their deal is, even if she doesn’t know exactly what they’re up to (though Clooney and Roberts are reliably devious).

But despite all that, it’s no spoiler to reveal that Ticket to Paradise is indeed about two wayward lovers finding their way back. We don’t see a whole lot of them being good to each other, so I was generally skeptical that their reunion was a good idea. But this is a big-hearted movie that wants us to be open to life-altering experiences, so I ultimately appreciated it taking the plunge.

I would also like to highlight one scene that really sticks out, in which a restless David stops by the bar for a late-night solo drink, when he’s unexpectedly joined by Wren. For a passing moment, I wondered if the father of the bride was about to sleep with her best friend. I brushed that thought aside, assuring myself that this wasn’t that type of movie, and indeed it’s not. Still, it was a strange, though edifying, encounter that fit with the whole ethos of “Don’t be so certain that you know everything.”

Ticket to Paradise is Recommended If You Like: The Parent Trap (1998), Mamma Mia! 1 & 2, Late in life beer pong

Grade: 3 out of 5 Proposals

‘Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris’ and Makes a Pit Stop in Our Hearts

July 11, 2022

jmunney Cinema, Movie Reviews , , , , , , , , 1 Comment

Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris (CREDIT: Dávid Lukács/© 2021 Ada Films Ltd – Harris Squared Kft)

Starring: Lesley Manville, Isabelle Huppert, Lambert Wilson, Alba Baptista, Lucas Bravo, Ellen Thomas, Jason Isaacs

Director: Anthony Fabian

Running Time: 115 Minutes

Rating: PG for Rudeness and Arrogance

Release Date: July 15, 2022 (Theaters)

What’s It About?: The widowed Ada Harris (Lesley Manville) is generally happy with her life as a cleaning lady in 1950s London. But there’s one thing she’s always dreamed of doing: embark to the City of Lights so that she can purchase her very own Dior dress. When a series of fortunate events provide her with a windfall of quick cash, she takes the opportunity to make the fantasy come true. Alas, despite her ability to pay immediately at the point of purchase, she is sneered at by the snooty haute couture establishment. But she also wins over the more progressive elements under Dior’s employ and barrels over everyone else with her sheer indefatigability.

What Made an Impression?: A few years ago, Lesley Manville starred in another finely stitched-together fashion-centric film. That would be Phantom Thread, a movie that features remarkable craftsmanship but which I have no desire to ever see again because I found it so profoundly unpleasant. Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris, on the other hand, is worthy of a rewatch, as it is charming from beginning to end, no matter how much anybody tries to beat that out of it. And it’s a good thing, too, because in the movie’s telling, she pretty much singlehandedly saves Dior from oblivion. I doubt that that’s historically accurate, but I kind of want it to be now.

In addition to getting fitted for her dress and saving an entire fashion house, Mrs. Harris also finds time to encourage a budding romance between a Dior employee (Lucas Bravo) and one of the models (Alba Baptista). It’s built on a foundation of existentialism and socialism, so that’s good to see. And, you might be wondering, is there also room for Mrs. Harris’ own love to blossom? Well, she does meet a fancy marquis (Lambert Wilson) who finds her adorable, and then there’s her friend Archie (Jason Isaacs) back home at the race track. She seems a little uncertain when it comes to affairs of the heart, though, but I suspect her late husband would be happy for her to give it a go, and you know what? I bet movie theater audiences would be as well. Oh well, I’m sure she’ll take it all at whatever speed she needs to for herself.

Anyway, in summary, preternaturally strong-willed characters like Mrs. Harris could easily become exhausting, but that’s not the case here, as Manville knows how to calibrate every one of her acting decisions just so.

Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris is Recommended If You Like: Paying in full in cash, Getting your measurements taken, Discussing Sartre over dinner

Grade: 3.5 out of 5 Dresses