'The Holiday' proves vacation from winter blahs
By Susannah Elliott, Entertainment Editor
December 16, 2006 | 11:07 p.m.
A new romantic comedy from Nancy Meyers ("Father of the Bride," "Something's Gotta Give") overflows with star power and happy endings.
Amanda (Cameron Diaz) and Iris (Kate Winslet) are two successful, independent careerwomen who feel constrained by the hands love has dealt them at Christmas. Iris, a wedding columnist from Surrey, England, needs to escape from a newly engaged ex-boyfriend with whom she cannot fall out of love. In Los Angeles, Amanda is the workaholic head of an in-house company that makes movie trailers. Already wound so tightly that she hasn't been able to cry since she was 15, Amanda just ended a very strained relationship with her live-in boyfriend.
After meeting online, the women decide to regain control of their lives by switching houses for two weeks.
What follows are typical, but endearing fish-out-of-water scenarios, like when Amanda struggles to drive on the "wrong" side of the road and Iris marvels at the hugeness of Amanda's abode. With the help of Iris' irresistible brother, Graham (Jude Law), Amanda overcomes jet lag and culture shock, finding coziness and romance in Iris’ out-of-the-way cottage.
Iris, however, finds it more difficult to forget her ex, despite her new friendships. She meets Miles (Jack Black), a quirky film composer in a relationship with an actress who may not really care for him. Eli Wallach plays Iris’ 90-year-old next-door neighbor, Arthur Abbott, one of the last great screenwriters of the golden age of Hollywood. Abbott works diligently to inspire "gumption" in Iris, while she and Miles, in turn, give him the courage to accept Hollywood's praise.
"The Holiday" is a movie that isn't afraid to poke fun at its own industry. From time to time, Amanda hears that familiar voice using movie trailer talk to narrate her life. Miles recalls great movie scores in the video store. Upon their first meeting, Arthur explains the "meet cute" to Iris -- if a man and a woman both need something to sleep in and go to the same pajama department and one says, "I just need a top," and the other says, "I just need bottoms," they look at each other and that is the "meet cute."
Director and writer Nancy Meyers also uses some of our favorite movie scenes and twists them in new ways. Like a good Christmas song, we know all the words and melodies even if there is a new singer, but we're happy to hear it again. "The Holiday" re-plays scenarios like the karaoke scene from "When Harry Met Sally,” and it later echoes the final scene of "Mr. Holland's Opus."
The scenes are familiar, but not yet hackneyed.
The romantic comedy clichés may not have been carried out so well if not for its excellent cast. Kate Winslet, finally in her own time period, accent and wardrobe, demonstrates her ability to take on comedic roles as well as dramatic. Audiences will also be seeing a different Jack Black in "The Holiday" than in the recent "Tenacious D: The Pick of Destiny."
Black tones down the outrageous enough to make it seem actually possible for him to woo Winslet. Cameron Diaz is her usual, cutesy, all-American girl, while Jude Law borrows Hugh Grant's shoes -- and appears to fill them even better -- as the flawless, charming British gentleman.
It is Eli Wallach who fits perfectly into a role seemingly tailored to him. As Arthur Abbott criticizes changes in the movie industry, his office is cluttered with Golden Globes, Oscars and photos of him with celebrities. Wallach shuns fax machines, has won several acting awards throughout his 50-plus years of acting and his children enjoyed having Marilyn Monroe as a baby sitter. Regardless of how much they are alike, Wallach and his character carry the spirit of the movie as Arthur overcomes his own insecurities to take advantage of what the world is ready to give him.
Despite its predictability at times, "The Holiday" is a delight. The movie was clearly made for females, but men won't despise it.
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Visit the official Web site for "The Holiday."