Lily and Wren holiday to Bali after finishing their degrees, and Lily falls in love with a Balinese seaweed fisherman. Parents David and Georgia on their way to the sudden wedding, resolve to do what they must to prevent Lily from throwing her life away like this, even though this means putting aside the acrimony in which they split after 5 years of marriage.
So: 1. Big names George Clooney and Julia Roberts: 2. Main plot: parents at war, witty dialogue, expectation of happy resolution: 3. Backstory to main plot to add depth/heart: 4. Subplot: assorted spanners thrown into daughter's relationship - will it survive them?
5. Subplot: mother's amorous relationship with glamorous toyboy: 6. Side characters: funny lady on plane, boyfriend's parents and sister: 7. Incidental incidents: dolphin swim, drunk dancing, losing boat: 8. Gorgeous scenery, bright colours
And that's the problem. This film is assembled by numbers. There's nothing wrong with it - Clooney and Roberts ooze star power, the scenery is indeed gorgeous, all the bits of the story fit together and operate smoothly, everything plays out as expected...
And it's all utterly soulless. It's a romcom put together by a committee. And, in assembling it, they lost sight of the fact that the two main characters are rather unlikeable. Oh, we learn the reason, and they recover some likeability by the end. But, by then, I didn't care to learn to like the newly likeable David and Georgia. And I was certain how it was going to play out all the way through. And it did.
So: 1. Big names George Clooney and Julia Roberts: 2. Main plot: parents at war, witty dialogue, expectation of happy resolution: 3. Backstory to main plot to add depth/heart: 4. Subplot: assorted spanners thrown into daughter's relationship - will it survive them?
5. Subplot: mother's amorous relationship with glamorous toyboy: 6. Side characters: funny lady on plane, boyfriend's parents and sister: 7. Incidental incidents: dolphin swim, drunk dancing, losing boat: 8. Gorgeous scenery, bright colours
And that's the problem. This film is assembled by numbers. There's nothing wrong with it - Clooney and Roberts ooze star power, the scenery is indeed gorgeous, all the bits of the story fit together and operate smoothly, everything plays out as expected...
And it's all utterly soulless. It's a romcom put together by a committee. And, in assembling it, they lost sight of the fact that the two main characters are rather unlikeable. Oh, we learn the reason, and they recover some likeability by the end. But, by then, I didn't care to learn to like the newly likeable David and Georgia. And I was certain how it was going to play out all the way through. And it did.