# Just the Ticket (1999)

### reviewed by
Michael Dequina

_Just_the_Ticket_ (R) * 1/2 (out of ****)

Andy and Andie. Execs at MGM/UA must have been falling all over themselves with self-satisfaction when someone came up with the ever-so-precious idea of pairing the homophonically-named Mr. Garcia and Ms. MacDowell. In the right vehicle, the two could possibly be as cute as the pairing of their perfectly-matched first names. _Just_the_Ticket_, however, is not that vehicle.

The fact that writer-director Richard Wenk's basic story is wholly unoriginal is the least of the film's problems. Actually, that fact isn't so much a problem as it is a slight annoyance. It's another one of those ne'er-do-well-straightens-up-for-the-love-of-a-right-woman stories, with ticket scalper Gary Starke (Garcia) attempting one last score--selling tickets to a sold-out papal mass in New York--before settling into an honest living to win the affections of his fed-up true love, aspiring chef Linda Paliski (MacDowell). There wouldn't be a movie without some types of complication, and the ones Wenk comes up with aren't exactly new, either. Among those Gary must contend with: Casino, a hotshot newcomer moving in on his scalping turf; Linda's impending move to France; and, as an added afterthought, Linda's _other_ boyfriend, Alex (Chris Lemmon).

Garcia and MacDowell are likable enough performers that with those elements in place, _Just_the_Ticket_ could have been a diverting, if formulaic, trifle. Yet it isn't. While the fundamentals of his story are not to blame, Wenk's execution certainly is. Garcia is game, but Wenk's listless direction saps him of all his energy; the film literally plods to a predictable pace, alternating scenes of Gary selling tickets with him wooing Linda. Not helping matters is Wenk's less-than-sparkling dialogue. Not only do the one-liners and Gary-Linda repartee fall flat, so do the straight-faced lines in general--a sure death knell for a film as talky as this one.

The ineffectiveness of _Just_the_Ticket_ can simply be chalked up to the fact that it's an astonishingly uninteresting piece of work. There's nothing particularly memorable about the story, the characters, or the performances; I just about forgot each image or word as soon as it left the screen. The makers of _Just_the_Ticket_ undoubtedly set out to make a light entertainment, but instead they've come up with something a bit moreso--a film that's completely inert.

Michael Dequina mrbrown@iname.com | michael_jordan@geocities.com Mr. Brown's Movie Site: http://welcome.to/mrbrown CompuServe Hollywood Hotline: http://www.HollywoodHotline.com

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