Although life hasn't turned out the way they once dreamed, life-long buddies Mark, McGriff and Jason are managing to stay above water in their small Pennsylvania hometown. Mark, whose fleeting college football glory has morphed into a dangerous obsession with gambling, is becoming more and more estranged from his wife Sherry and son Hayden.
McGriff has never let go of his rock-n-roll aspirations, but somehow he's not the man he used to be. He's complacent, though, because of his lovely wife Kate. And then there is Jason, who is still living with his parents and letting them dictate his life.
The guys are in for a few surprises. A shady collector forces his way into Marks home to settle a debt, scaring Sherry into leaving with Hayden.
As if that's not enough, Marks father passes away, leaving him with the unresolved tension in their relationship. Meanwhile, McGriff comes home from work early and finds his wife in a compromising position with another man. (Who ironically is a big fan of McGriffs) What to do when life deals you hard knocks?
Jason has the solution: With the College Football Championship Bowl tickets he won in an employee drawing at Office Max, the three friends set out on a road trip from Pennsylvania to the Sunshine State.
Things don't go as smoothly as planned, though. McGriff is driving everyone crazy with the guitar he insisted on bringing, Jason lets the map fly out the window, and Mark overhears a once-in-a-lifetime betting tip that he can't act on.
Somewhere between setting Vanna Whites ancestral home on fire to almost getting eaten by gators to receiving pseudo-prophetic advice from a one-arm carnie, tensions rise between the three friends and the shortcomings of each become apparent.
They ultimately find themselves on the edge of a bridge with a pact to jump off together. The beer talking. perhaps. Mark's near-fall brings them back to reality and sets them on a new line of thought. If they just faked their own deaths it would give them all a chance to start anew.
That decided, they push Marks prized vintage car into an alligator infested swamp. But starting a new life is not as easy as it seems. They still have the same problems, the same heartaches, the same failed dreams.
Disgruntled and bitter, their true feelings rush out, and the trio angrily disbands. On their own they begin to discover what is really important. For Mark, it's his family, and being the kind of father his father was.
For McGriff, its finally taking a stand and reclaiming the confidence he once had. For Jason, it's a girl named Janice who can throw a mean game of darts and who loves him for who he already is. And of course, for all three, it's each other.
"Two Tickets to Paradise" is a comedy that is both hilarious and heartwarming. It takes us on a journey of lost dreams and underappreciated treasures and reminds us that in this crazy, uncertain world, the one thing we can count on is our friends.
Starring: John C.McGinley, D.B. Sweeney, Paul Hipp, Ed Harris, Moira Kelly, Pat Hingle, Janet Jones, Mark Moses, Rex Linn, Ned Bellamy, M.C. Gainey, Vanna White