You kind of hoped that "Ticket to Heaven," the new movie starring George Clooney and Julia Roberts, would be the "Top Gun: Maverick" of romantic comedies.
That it will throw me back to the nineties and remind me what real movie stars can do.
That he will revive the lightness, wit and casual charm of films like "Notting Hill", "My Friend's Wedding", "Intolerable Cruelty" and "Ocean's 11".
That he will ride the warm waves of nostalgia and inject some joie de vivre (and life in general) into the cinematic medium, which is dying before our eyes.
that he would provide me with some comfort, in short.
Unfortunately, none of these things actually happened.
Al Parker's schmaltz and lazy film ("The Exotic Marigold Hotel", "Mamma Mia 2") is not a complete failure, but it is light years away from being a meaningful romantic comedy.
He plays it safe, without taking any risks.
His jokes are predictable (and mostly not funny), his secondary characters are bland and clichéd (and not interesting at all), and there is not even one scene in it that you will regret in your memory.
Of course it's fun to see Clooney and Roberts together again on the screen (for the first time since "The Money Monster", in 2016).
They are as charismatic and charming as ever.
But they deserve a lot more than this movie gives them.
us too
Courtesy of Tulip Entertainment
Roberts plays a gallery owner and Clooney plays an architect.
They are divorced and hate each other, but the reckless decision of their shared daughter (Caitlin Deaver, "Plowing the Night") to marry a guy she met while on a trip to Bali causes them to join forces in order to make her change her plans.
Of course, the temporary cooperation between the two ex-lovers does not prevent them from continuing to fight and go down on each other (and make excessively amazed faces).
The views may be beautiful, and so are the clothes.
But the story is completely casual, and aside from a brief sequence where Clooney and Roberts get drunk and fool around a bit, the two veteran stars don't really get a chance to improvise and/or draw outside the lines.
Everything is so polite and clean and tidy.
"Ticket to Heaven" will not kill you and there are much worse movies than it.
But it has no character and no uniqueness, and unlike "Top Gun: Maverick" there is no danger of it becoming a classic.
What's more, he will remind you that time flies.
Towards the end of the film there is a scene where Clooney is standing on the beach looking at the spectacular sunset.
He suddenly looks so old.
It made me sad.
Score: 5
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