Two Tickets to Paradise [Import]

This is a gem of a film, directed and written with heart and truth, at times it brought tears to my eyes, and in the next scene, made me laugh, as I have done much the same as the characters so deftly drawn by D.B. Sweeney. Anytime, an actor can take both sides of the camera, and craft a film so entertaining and rich, this is a film and director to be noted.
Though the film concentrates on the three buddie's embraked on a life changing road trip, it is also noteworthy for the fact, that finally a director has given the veteran actor John McGinley the starring role he has so richly deserved after many many films. John's performance is bravura, going from alpha male bravado to being absolutely cratered as he realizes what is important in life, which is this: the friends we keep are the "family" we lean on. That is a universal theme that bears truth. Five Stars, you won't be disappointed.

Not only is DB Sweeney a Great Actor, Great American (he sent me coffee while I was in Iraq), OK guitar player, but he has done an awesome job directing this one. I want to thank him for coming to Iraq to show us this movie. I pre-ordered it from Amazon, received it on July 22nd here in Iraq and have watched it three times already. I have caught something new each time I watched it. We were laughing through some of the parts I missed the first time, then I watched it with headphones the second time.
It has a true story line, not a Hollywood story line and great music (well except when he butchered Blue Collar Man, a Styx song).
I highly recommend this movie, it will be one I watch again and again.

I've loved D.B. Sweeney since "The Cutting Edge" for his totally heart-felt and down-to-earth style of acting. What this movie does, is take that style to the next level. The stuff we talk about with the friends we've known forever may sound pretty strange, stupid or boring to anyone else. "Two Tickets To Paradise" captures so poignantly just how all of these seemingly insignificant conversations and experiences weave together for each of us, creating not simply histories that we share with each other as old friends, but the compass by which we orient ourselves. Sweeney has written the dialogue about these three old friends in an honest, funny, and at times unbearably sad tone, reminding us of how we all can and do get stuck in our lives, to one degree or another, and how, invariably, our old friends become the yardstick, and maybe the impetus for us moving ourselves a few feet forward. All three main characters, as well as the minor characters give very well-modulated performances...no over-acting, no corny monologues, and a good, but not yucky-sweet,Hollywood ending. It's almost as if Sweeney is reminding us that we can give up cinematic junk food by experiencing films that deeply move us with simple reality instead of with the fantastic and improbable. Too bad that Moira Kelly didn't have a bigger part, since she and Sweeney have such natural chemistry together. Good tunes. Hope he makes more movies like this.