Tag Archives: Lucas Bravo

Movie Review ~ Ticket to Paradise

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The Facts:

Synopsis: A divorced couple travels to Bali to stop their daughter from making the same mistake they think they made 25 years ago.
Stars: George Clooney, Julia Roberts, Kaitlyn Dever, Billie Lourd, Maxime Bouttier, Lucas Bravo
Director: Ol Parker
Rated: PG-13
Running Length: 104 minutes
TMMM Score: (8/10)
Review: School may have started in early September, but Oscar winners George Clooney and Julia Roberts are about to give audiences of all ages a massive chemistry lesson when Ticket to Paradise opens in theaters this October. It’s as easy as that. The two movie stars (if ever there was a definitive epitome of one, they would share the title) are massively successful in their own right and longtime friends, having starred in two popular Oceans 11 films together. Both are in constant demand to star in high-profile projects, yet here they are in a commercial vehicle that isn’t a stretch for either and plays directly to their strengths.

While this rom-com may appear to be a warmed-over retread of a familiar formula, don’t let Ticket to Paradise fool you. There’s more going on in director Ol Parker’s sunny Bali-set comedy than you’d expect. Heck, I thought I knew each beat the movie would take after a preview that appears to give away nearly everything that happened. Admittedly, this isn’t Shakespeare, but Parker and co-screenwriter Daniel Pipski have done their homework and know what made these breezy comedies blockbusters back in the day. Put your charming stars front and center, give them material to work with that isn’t beneath their talent, and then let the professionals do their job.

Long divorced, architect David Cotton (Clooney, The Monuments Men) and his ex Georgia (Roberts, Ben is Back) can only agree on one positive that emerged from their brief union: their daughter, Lily (Kaitlyn Dever, Rosaline). When the film opens, Lily is negotiating a truce between her oft-bickering parents over their seating at her upcoming graduation. Though she promises they’ll be sitting far apart, when the day arrives, they’re shoulder to shoulder, vying to be seen as the most supportive parent to their child. As they send Lily off to Bali with friend Wren (Billie Lourd, Booksmart) for a mini-vacation before she begins her career in law, David and Georgia know this is the last time they’ll have to see one another in quite some time.

A month later, Lily has met and fallen in love with Balinese seaweed farmer Gede (Maxime Bouttier) and informs her parents that plans have changed for the career for which they’d all planned. Furthermore, she intends to marry Gede within a week. United in their belief Lily is making the wrong choice, David and Georgia travel to Bali under the guise of supporting their daughter when they’ve truly come to work to sabotage the wedding. Throughout the weeklong ceremonies leading up to the marriage, the entire group will learn about the bonds of family, forgiveness, embracing change, and jumping in feet first to love’s most excellent adventure.

Ticket to Paradise is the kind of film they made back in the day before you could reserve your ticket online or over the phone. When you had to wait in line at the box office where maybe you got almost to the front when a voice over the loudspeaker announced your showing was sold out, but you could buy a ticket for the next one. The tension! Those were the days. It’s refreshingly uncomplicated in a beautiful sort of way. It wouldn’t be long before romantic comedies had to have an “edge” to them. That could be a sinister evil new boy/girlfriend, a scheming inlaw/boss that threatens to screw up the Big Event more than our leads could, or added raunch to goose the demand for a new type of comedy.

You also have to appreciate the way Parker and Pipski write the ex-Cottons. If the two bicker too bitterly, the audience will turn against them because they are insufferable; take away their bite, and you lose the comedy. The Clooney/Roberts pairing, coupled with some easy-handed direction from Parker, keeps them likable and hard to hold any grudges against. Parker also includes scenes between Gede and his parents, showing viewers both sides of parental relationships.

Whether it’s Clooney’s crinkly-eyed smile or Roberts’s mega-watt grin followed by that infectious loud whoop of a laugh, both actors trot out their secret weapons whenever the mood suits them. And it suits us just fine, too. You hardly ever want to be apart from this pairing, and when you do, the film shifts into a lower gear to no one else’s fault. That means Lourd and Lucas Bravo (Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris), as Georgia’s pilot boyfriend, feel underdeveloped as characters and not the mere sounding boards they wind up hanging around as.

To discredit the effort put in here, even if the finale writes itself from the start, is not to recognize the role of the movie star in Hollywood. Some movies are based on existing properties studios develop and hope to become a franchise they can repeat ad nauseam via a pre-programmed formula. Then there are the movies like Ticket to Paradise, original works that are constructed around the personalities and working relationships of its two most profitable (and likable) stars. I’d take more Tickets to Paradise than any five hoped-for franchise starters any day.

Movie Review ~ Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris (2022)

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The Facts:

Synopsis: A seemingly ordinary British housekeeper whose dream to own a couture Christian Dior gown takes her on an extraordinary adventure to Paris.
Stars: Lesley Manville, Isabelle Huppert, Jason Isaacs, Anna Chancellor, Lambert Wilson, Alba Baptista, Lucas Bravo, Rose Williams
Director: Anthony Fabian
Rated: PG
Running Length: 115 minutes
TMMM Score: (9/10)
Review: I’m a person that regrettably tends to get those dreadful summer colds, and they often can lay me out for a week or more. Knock on wood, it’s nearly mid-July, and I’ve avoided any major maladies, but there is a faux ailment I do feel as if I may be coming down with: Blockbuster-itis.  While not officially recognized, this has been known to affect all age groups and target those who frequent the theaters for the latest and greatest in popular entertainment. The trick to being dragged down into the depths of this disease is finding a remedy fast. Nothing cures fussy franchise delirium better than a slam-dunk audience pleaser & the delightful Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris is the medicine I needed.

Based on the first of four books by American Paul Gallico (who also wrote the novel on which The Poseidon Adventure was based), Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris has found life before in film. First seen as a 1958 TV special, the year the book arrived on shelves, it was followed years later by a German film, I vaguely recall the 1992 TV movie headlined by Angela Lansbury, and now, thirty years later, a sumptuous feature film starring the terrific Lesley Manville. As the titular character, Manville (an Oscar nominee for 2017’s Phantom Thread) steps into a leading role with a calm charm laced with elegance that gives the hard-working cleaning lady a true heart of gold.

As the film opens, Ada Harris has finally received confirmation her husband, an airman believed lost in battle, did indeed meet his end. After years of hoping for his return, reality sets in, but life continues. She’s right back to cleaning homes for clients that don’t notice her (Christian McKay, Rush, with an endless parade of ‘nieces’), rely too much on her (Rose Williams, as an actress always late for an audition), or never seems to have her pay ready (Anna Chancellor, How I Live Now, playing a socialite with no social skills).

One day, she’s at the society lady’s flat and sees the most beautiful gown she’s ever laid eyes on…a Christian Dior frock from Paris. For 500£, she too could have a one-of-a-kind masterpiece. Now, with a goal in mind, Mrs. Harris begins to save her earnings here and there and, through a series of lucky happenstance, finds herself in the City of Lights and the Dior showroom. Where she goes from there and how she gets tangled up with fussy Dior executive Claudine (Isabelle Huppert, Greta, refreshing to see in a comedy), a handsome Marquis (Lambert Wilson), and the affairs of two young residents within the House of Dior (Lucas Bravo and Alba Baptista), are for you to discover.

Director Anthony Fabian knew where to spend the production budget and doesn’t skimp on the good stuff. The classic Dior costumes that drift across the showroom floor (and our screen) are works of art and wearable, not the complicated creations meant for galleries they are today. Three-time Oscar winner Jenny Beavan (a winner this year for Cruella) pulled looks and recreates these gasp-inducing styles for the film, and they are nearly worth the price of admission. The outdoor production design can be slightly askew with too much reliance on CGI, but in a way that also adds to the overall feeling that this is one big dream.

So sweetly charming only a curmudgeon would hate it, Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris is one of those ‘just-so’ movies with barely a hair out of place. It’s got a gossamer sheen to everything that dials each visual up several notches, elevating the fantasy aspect of the tale. This glow makes it a pleasure to watch and easier to overlook some historical anomalies, like Ada telling Claudine, “You go, girl.” (in 1957? I don’t think so.). Then there are the tweaks to culture and casting to be more inclusive, though that cultural change wouldn’t be in place quite yet. Little quips aside, it’s a divinely decadent treat to encounter, and even if it weren’t such a visual feast, it would have survived on the energy put forth by Manville’s performance alone. Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris, and you should see her adventure in your local movie theater.