Julia Roberts and George Clooney have officially reunited for their fifth project together in this weekend’s new movie release, Ticket To Paradise. The film brings Roberts (who's led some of the best romantic comedies of all time) back to the genre that arguably made her a household name. While the actress was certainly treading familiar ground with her frequent co-star, she did struggle with one thing while acting alongside Clooney this time around, and that led the film's director to give her a note.
Ol Parker, who previously helmed feel-good movies like Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again and The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel before directing George Clooney and Julia Roberts, dished about his time working with the stars. While doing so he explained that the always-Roberts had trouble with one aspect of the gig -- being mean to Clooney:
The only note I had to give Julia in the whole movie was the scene where they actually argue for real after the marketplace. They have an argument about how they brought up Lily. Julia was just going easy on George. I was like, 'Julia, what's up? What's happening here?’ George went for it on his close-up and he's still going for it on hers and she's not. I was like, 'What is going on here?' She went, 'I just don't like shouting. I don't like being mean to George.’ And I was like, 'You got to let him have it.' She's like, 'Okay.' And then the next take is the one in the movie. And it's sensational.
Can you blame her, though? I mean, we're talking about George Clooney first off, Julia Roberts has been good friends with the actor for years. As their director told Entertainment Weekly, Roberts was going too easy on Clooney when their characters, two divorcees who hold years of resentment against one another, had scenes together. Parker continued:
She didn't want to be mean to him. They like sparring jokingly, but she didn't enjoy doing it for real. But then I gave her note and she killed it. Because she's Julia Roberts.
I don’t need to tell you that the actress is the most iconic name in romantic comedies. She landed her breakout role in 1990’s Pretty Woman and would go on to star in numerous other hit movies of the genre during the ‘90s. And she broke a major glass ceiling for women in Hollywood as a result of that success, by asking and receiving $20 million for starring in 2000’s Erin Brockovich.
In the film, Julia Roberts and George Clooney play exes who must reunite for their daughter’s destination wedding in Bali. Once they get there, they band together to break up the ceremony because they both disapprove of the union. As a true-blue rom-com that's getting a theatrical release, the flick is a bit of a novelty. Clooney called Universal Pictures “brave” for sending the movie to the big screen in the age of streaming.
The production has earned mixed reviews from critics, with CinemaBlend’s Ticket To Paradise review awarding it a 2 out 5, saying it’s a “lazy genre entry that screams of the stars figuring out a way to go on vacation together and get paid.” Moviegoers are responding more warmly to the film overall, considering it got an A- Cinemascore. The movie also hit a big international box office milestone ahead of its domestic opening weekend.
If anything, viewers should get a good laugh out of seeing Julia Roberts and George Clooney's characters verbally tear each other to shreds. And those who enjoy it should be extra grateful to Roberts for powering through and hurling some faux insults at her co-star.
Ticket to Paradise, one of the most high-profile titles on the schedule of upcoming movies, is now playing.
