DVD/Movie Review: Ticket to Paradise

Ticket to Paradise
(DVD Ticket)

Seeing longtime friends George Clooney and Julia Roberts as David and Georgia Cotton, bickering ex-spouses who have to grudgingly cooperate to try to derail their daughter’s seemingly ill-considered spontaneous choice to marry her Bali-nese boyfriend and settle into an island lifestyle, is 100% of the fun in this otherwise paint-by-the-numbers relationship comedy.

 

The island scenery is gorgeous, just like the costumes, and the supporting cast is charmingly quirky (including Kaitlyn Dever as headstrong Lily Cotton, Maxime Bouttier as her amazingly stable betrothed, Gede, and Billie Lourd as Lily’s sarcastic best friend Wren), but this film is all about how David and Georgia get past the differences that drove them apart, first to address their shared concerns about their daughter, and later when they begin to realize that the things that originally brought them together 20+ years ago are still in play.

 

There’s nothing “new” or “original” in this one, but it is great fun to see some charismatic actors making the most of a chance to work together.

 

( Internet Movie Database entry for this film )

 

Recommended by Scott C.
Bennett Martin Public Library — Public Service

 

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New reviews appear every month on the Staff Recommendations page of the BookGuide website. You can visit that page to see them all, or watch them appear here in the BookGuide Blog individually over the course of the entire month. Click the tag for the reviewer's name to see more of this reviewer’s recommendations!

DVD Review: All My Life

All My Life

(DVD All)

 

If you pay any attention to trending romance stories in pop culture, you may have heard about the experience of Jennifer Carter and Solomon Chou, whose friends and family initiated a GoFundMe fundraising campaign to help them pay for their wedding and honeymoon, after Sol was diagnosed with inoperable cancer only months before their original wedding was to have taken place.

 

All My Life tells their story. Jessica Rothe plays Jenn and Harry Shum Jr. plays Sol, with an extensive cast of supporting actors as their friends, co-workers and physicians. The film telescopes some of the real-life events in the couples’ life, shortening the timeframe of some of the actual events. Yet, the feel of the film isn’t rushed. Rothe and Shum have marvelous chemistry as the ill-fated couple, with Rothe particularly shining, the more stress she’s placed under.

 

Despite the sad ending that most viewers should know is coming, this was an uplifting and life-affirming movie. I enjoyed it very much and give it a strong recommendation!

[ Internet Movie Database entry for this film ] | [ official All My Life Facebook page ]

 

Recommended by Scott C.
Bennett Martin Public Library — Public Services

 

Have you watched this one? What did you think? Did you find this review helpful?

New reviews appear every month on the Staff Recommendations page of the BookGuide website. You can visit that page to see them all, or watch them appear here in the BookGuide Blog individually over the course of the entire month. Click the tag for the reviewer's name to see more of this reviewer’s recommendations!

DVD Review: Table 19

Table 19
(DVD Table)

This quirky-character dramedy stars the multi-talented Anna Kendrick as a woman who has been relegated to the “losers” table at her friend’s wedding reception, demoted from Maid of Honor due to a bad breakup with the Best Man. There, she joins the bride’s childhood nanny, a bickering couple, an awkward male relative of the groom, and a teen who’s looking for some action. Lest I give too much away, I’ll just say that complications are present from the beginning, a mystery man appears when Kendrick needs him, a big secret comes out and, sometimes, the misfits prove to be the most “together” people at the party.

Kendrick always gives a solid performance, which is enhanced particularly by Lisa Kudrow as the unhappy wife and Craig Robinson as the unaware husband in the middle-aged couple, June Soubb as the mature former nanny, and Stephen Merchant as the very tall and very oddball relation. (He recently put in a hilarious turn as a concierge at an exclusive apartment complex on Modern Family.) There is some bad language and some light drug use, but it’s a story with charming humor and ultimate heart.

[If you enjoy this, you may also wish to try 27 Dresses, Isn’t It Romantic? or Bride Wars.]

[ Internet Movie Database entry for this film ] | [ official Table 19 web site ]

See Carrie R.’s earlier review of Table 19 in the  September 2017 Staff Recommendations

Recommended by Becky W.C.
Walt Branch Library

Have you watched this one? What did you think? Did you find this review helpful?

New reviews appear every month on the Staff Recommendations page of the BookGuide website. You can visit that page to see them all, or watch them appear here in the BookGuide blog individually over the course of the entire month. Click the tag for the reviewer's name to see more of this reviewer’s recommendations!