Film: The Holiday
Tagline
A change of address can change your life
Plot
Amanda (Cameron Diaz) and Iris (Kate Winslet) both find themselves in the same situation: the man they love (or think they love) is in love with somebody else. Or even engaged to that particular other woman. With Christmas on the way, they’re looking for a way to overcome that period of happiness with your family and stuff, while they are feeling low, overworked (Amanda) and depressed (Iris). They decide to swap houses. Amanda lives in L.A., Iris lives in Surrey, so they’ll both have a place to run away for a while from their miserable lives. Without men, of course. But Amanda meets Iris’ handsome brother Graham, and Iris finds herself strangely attracted to composer Miles.
Acting
Now, why doesn’t this surprise us? It wouldn’t be a Christmas movie if the couples would not find each other – after the usual difficulties of course. The way they do it is kind of direct, but refreshing in Amanda’s case, and a bit slow but more likely when it comes to Iris. Kate Winslet shines as ever as an English woman with a broken heart who suddenly comes to the realization that her life is actually hers, and not that of creepy Jasper (Rufus Sewell). Cameron Diaz is not my favourite actress, mainly because she always uses the same kind of expressions. However, in this movie she puts on a more serious face which suits her good. Kind of a refreshment after the happy-happy joy-joy things she used to do.
Jude Law is gorgeous. Even his chest hair can’t affect that. Jack Black is kind of…chubby. But he looks real friendly. Even though it really looks stupid when he kisses Kate on her cheek. So, you can actually notice that this movie was written by Nancy Meyers especially for this four men and women.
Verdict: It was nice to see some snow after the terrible Christmas weather we have around these days (merely rain and wind). There were some very funny parts in The Holiday but it has the disadvantage of being a prototype of the romantic comedy. So you know what’s going to happen, even if they try to bring it in a refreshing way. The acting wasn’t bad though, but if you go see it make it a Ladies Night (like my mum and I did), ‘cause boys will only fret.