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| Balfe |
Ticket to Paradise: (Lorne Balfe) As far as
romantic comedies go, 2022's
Ticket to Paradise is about as
standard as they get, offering audiences no surprises and relying solely
upon the chemistry of longtime co-stars Julia Roberts and George
Clooney. The two play a contentious and argumentative divorced couple
that travels to Bali to "rescue" their daughter from her engagement to a
young local man. Trying to help the girl avoid their own fate, the
sparring duo spends much of the film conniving to sabotage their
daughter's wedding but predictably fails, making fools of themselves in
the process. In the most shocking development to ever occur in the
genre, the parents begrudgingly fall back in love themselves. A sharp
script and funny performances by the two leads, including a humiliating
dance scene, buoyed
Ticket to Paradise to theatrical success.
Composer Lorne Balfe was more concerned with his concurrent release of
Black Adam at the time, causing his sleeper work for
Ticket to
Paradise to slip by largely unnoticed. While
Black Adam was a
massively hyped and complicated score,
Ticket to Paradise is a
short and easy affair, its brief running time dictated by sparse
spotting and extensive song placements in the picture. Many
conversational scenes were either left unscored or had the music dialed
back to nearly inaudible levels, which is a disappointment given that
the personality of Balfe's work is a nice diversion for the composer.
One could get the sense that this score was attempting to channel A.R.
Rahman and Thomas Newman in its balance of orchestral elements,
contemporary synthetics, and ethnic accents, especially in that final
inclusion. More importantly, its heart is unyieldingly pleasant,
compensating for its relative lack of substantive material with an
affable charm that checks many of the basic romantic comedy boxes. The
ensemble for the score is built upon a string section, guitars, piano,
vocal effects, and a bevy of synthetic atmospherics on keyboards and
winds. Balfe's contemporary stylings are held in check until a little
intrusiveness in "Remember Me," but they're generally effective. Some
listeners might be repelled by Balfe's mixing of unusual vocal effects
at times, but such usage here is far more palatable than the sometimes
hideously distorted singing in
Black Adam. While this work is
mostly thematic, Balfe applies his two melodies without obvious
narrative development, but their simple and likeable demeanor when
supplied is what matters. The biting verbal exchanges between the leads
are left without any overly comedic material in the score.
There are two recurring themes in
Ticket to
Paradise, both sharing common harmonic sensibilities. The more
serious identity consists of easy-going, four-note phrases on strings,
somewhat aspirational in its rising and falling structure and shifting
to three-note phrases later in the melody. It stews in fragments on
strings at 0:25 into "Sweet Sunrise," consolidating at 0:57 and 1:28
over friendly, low xylophone-like tones with exotic vocals and woodwind
effects weaving in and out; what sounds like subtle brass in the
background is likely sampled support. This idea transitions to a new
melody over the same chords at 0:43 into "Mountain Kiss," pan flute
effects and very light percussion creating a safely tropical feel. It's
somber on lower strings and keyboard at 0:19 into "Ampura," nicely
varied with accent notes added and breathy vocals in the background
joined by light electric guitar. This theme struggles to stay on the
tracks throughout the subdued "Views From Bayview" but returns to its
full, whimsical form at 0:18 into "The Morning After" on strings, its
underlying chords only supplied later by acoustic guitar and keyboards
before a teaser of the full form again at 2:13. The other theme is more
redemptive, often preceded by a descending three-note rhythmic phrase.
The longer melody of this theme debuts on piano at 0:21 into "Flying
Kites" and is more inspirational but less defined early in "Remember
Me," though it focuses nicely in the second half of that cue, along with
three-note rhythmic phrase. It meanders at 0:24 into "Dolphin Spirit"
over breathy vocal effects, its chords informing humorous, choppy
strings late in the cue. It opens "Cleansing the Soul" with vital
electronic exuberance over wind effects; this material sounds much like
Hans Zimmer's early romantic style, shifting to strings with
infectiously high spirit. The idea opens "We're in This Together" on
more stern strings, the three-note descending phrase returning
prominently. Interestingly, for the "Ticket to Paradise" cue, Balfe uses
some of the same chords but follows a new ascendant set of progressions,
exploring a fresh diversion in contemporary form like "Cleansing the
Soul." The squishiness in thematic attribution is disappointing, and the
narrative isn't particularly tight. The ethnic elements could have been
more vibrant and genuine in the mix. But it's the basic demeanor of the
music that makes a score like
Ticket to Paradise successful. If
not for its short, 25-minute running time, it could earn a breezy four
stars. It's pleasantly affable nothingness perfect for resetting the
mind after being hammered by the masculine bravado of something like
Black Adam. The score-only album bypasses the film's funny songs
and has no detrimental interruption during its chill-out experience.
*** @Amazon.com: CD or
Download
| Bias Check: |
For Lorne Balfe reviews at Filmtracks, the average editorial rating is 2.83
(in 30 reviews)
and the average viewer rating is 2.86
(in 23,478 votes). The maximum rating is 5 stars.
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There exists no official packaging for this album.
