25 years ago, a movie that starred Julia Roberts and George Clooney would have become a major event. However, while those two remain Hollywood icons, they can’t “open” films like they could back in the 1990s.

That said, Julia and George still maintain decent audience appeal, as demonstrated by their newest collaboration, 2022’s rom-com called Ticket to Paradise. Although the film’s $165 million worldwide gross didn’t break any box office records, it seems pretty good for a tale such as this.

Especially given Hollywood’s preoccupation with youth. Films that focus on 50-somethings like George and Julia don’t usually do much business, especially when such tales emphasize romance.

David Cotton (Clooney) and ex-wife Georgia (Roberts) suffered a rancorous divorce 20 years earlier and remain bitter enemies. The two only ever come together for events that involve daughter Lily (Kaitlyn Dever).

When Lily graduates from law school, she goes to Bali with BFF Wren Butler (Billie Lourd) for one big romp before she enters the working world. However, matters take a turn when she meets island native Gede (Maxime Bouttier) and immediately falls in love.

Lily decides to abandon employment back in the States so she can immediately marry Gede. Vehemently opposed to this impetuous decision, David and Georgia put aside their decades of mutual loathing to halt Lily’s big life move.

Hilarity ensues? If you believe the trailers, sure.

However, the end product doesn’t adhere to the tone seen in ads. Those sell it much more as a screwball comedy than it is.

Oh sure, Paradise comes with a fair amount of comedy, but it becomes a much more dramatic tale than expected. Indeed, the trailers encapsulate nearly all the laughs you’ll find, as the film feels less “rom-com” and more “rom-com-dram”.

And I think the stabs at drama feel out of place. Look, we all know where the movie will go in terms of the leads.

It's not a spoiler to say Georgia and David come back together. I mean, if you don't know that going in, you're not entitled to outrage that I just revealed it because you're too stupid to deserve those emotions.

There's some question whether the Lily will get married - which I won't reveal - but I don't think many will really care. This movie's about George and Julia, with everything else superfluous.

And it's wholly mediocre. Paradise delivers a moderately watchable little movie, as the ample charms of Julia and George help sell it, but it's indeed a by-the-numbers tale for the most part.

I do like that the movie features 2 AARP-eligible actors as romantic leads and it treats them as sexy and appealing. As implied earlier, Hollywood tends to view older people as unattractive, and their sex lives usually act as little more than comedy fodder.

Granted, were I not the same age as Roberts, perhaps I’d go “old people sex – icky!” However, I find it refreshing that Paradise never views the George/Julia pairing as anything other than “sexually relevant”.

On the other hand, the Wren character feels like a throwback to an earlier era. Does a promiscuous, drunken female remain appropriate in 2022? Maybe in a different kind of film, but Wren seems tone deaf and out of place here.

Not that Wren actively hurts Paradise, as the movie seems too mediocre to be “ruined”. It kept me moderately entertained for 104 minutes and that's about it.

Note that bloopers appear during the end credits. These prove more amusing than usual.

Ticket to Paradise appears in an aspect ratio of 2.39:1 on this 4K UHD Disc. Expect a wholly terrific presentation.

Sharpness worked fine. Virtually no softness materialized, so the film offered precise and spot-on delineation.

I saw no shimmering or jagged edges, and edge haloes failed to appear. As for source flaws, the image lacked specks, marks or other issues.

Colors appeared fine for the desired palette. Despite the tropical setting, the film opted for the usual amber and teal. The film didn’t overwhelm in this regard, so the hues seemed vivid and full. HDR gave the tones extra punch as well.

Blacks looked dark and deep, and shadows were smooth. HDR added impact to whites and contrast. This became a nearly flawless image.

Though not great, I also felt positive about the pretty good Dolby Atmos soundtrack of Paradise. Given the nature of the story, environmental information dominated the mix.

Downconverted to Dolby TrueHD 7.1, these elements filled out the speakers in a fairly involving manner. The movie didn’t become a constant whiz-bang soundfield, but it created a decent sense of place, with occasional active moments like turbulence on a plane or boats on the ocean.

Audio quality was fine. Speech seemed natural and concise. Effects depicted the elements with acceptable accuracy and boasted pleasing low-end when necessary.

Music showed positive clarity and range, and they also packed solid bass response at times. This was a perfectly positive mix for the material.

How did the 4K UHD compare to the original Blu-ray version? The Atmos track showed a little more breadth but given the movie doesn’t exist as a sonic showcase, don’t expect substantial growth.

As a native 4K film, the UHD boasted stronger delineation than the Blu-ray and also boasted superior colors and blacks. While the BD looked great, the 4K topped it.

Four featurettes appear, and Return of the Dynamic Duo runs four minutes, 36 seconds. It offers comments from writer/director Ol Parker, producer Tim Bevan, and actors George Clooney, Julia Roberts, Kaitlyn Dever, Maxime Bouttier, Billie Lourd and Lucas Bravo.

“Duo” covers the Roberts and Clooney pairing. A few basic production notes emerge but much of this offers praise for the leads.

Destination Wedding fills three minutes, 38 seconds and provides remarks from Parker, Dever, Lourd, Bevan, Roberts, supervising location manager Lauren Cooper and actor/cultural consultant Agung Pindha and property master Emma Rudkin.

With “Wedding”, we get notes about locations and production design as well as Balinese culture, props and costumes. Like “Duo”, it brings a handful of insights but largely feels fluffy.

Next comes Production in Paradise, a three-minute, 44-second reel with statements from Parker, Roberts, Clooney, Bevan, Cooper, Lourd, Dever and Bouttier.

Here we see the use of Australia to fill in for Bali. It lacks much real substance.

Keep a Straight Face lasts two minutes, 35 seconds and includes notes from Parker, Lourd, and Dever.

“Face” covers the Dever/Lourd pairing and how much fun they had. Don’t expect much from it.

A second disc provides a Blu-ray copy of Paradise. It includes the same extras as the 4K UHD.

The Blu-ray opens with an ad for Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris. No trailer for Paradise appears here.

When Ticket to Paradise works, it does so entirely due to the combined charms of Julia Roberts and George Clooney. Unfortunately, they cannot elevate this fairly flat mix of romance, drama and comedy. The 4K UHD delivers excellent visuals as well as pretty good audio and a minor mix of bonus materials. Roberts and Clooney make the movie watchable but it never rises above that level.

To rate this film, visit the prior review of TICKET TO PARADISE