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Review of Ticket to Paradise (Lorne Balfe)

FILMTRACKS RECOMMENDS:

Buy it... if you require a pleasantly affable, largely insubstantial romantic comedy score from Lorne Balfe that is perfect for resetting the mind after being hammered by the masculine bravado of the composer's concurrent Black Adam.

Avoid it... if you hope that Balfe can generate a convincing ethnic element in his lightly contemporary setting the way A.R. Rahman or Thomas Newman might accomplish, such accents diminished in favor of more conventional strings, guitar, and keyboarding.

FILMTRACKS EDITORIAL REVIEW:

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.  ***

TRACK LISTINGS:

Total Time: 25:20

• 1. Sweet Sunrise (2:27) • 2. Mountain Kiss (2:18) • 3. Flying Kites (1:13) • 4. Ampura (2:24) • 5. Remember Me (2:23) • 6. Dolphin Spirit (2:01) • 7. Views From Bayview (2:20) • 8. Cleansing the Soul (2:02) • 9. The Morning After (2:36) • 10. Ticket to Paradise (3:01) • 11. We're in This Together (2:33)

NOTES & QUOTES:

There exists no official packaging for this album.

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