Looking for a heartwarming holiday film to enjoy? The Holiday movie is a delightful choice that captures the essence of the season. I’ll share my review on this Christmas favorite and whether it deserves a spot on your watchlist this year.
THE HOLIDAY (2006)
DIRECTOR: Nancy Meyers
STARRING: Cameron Diaz, Kate Winslet, Jude Law and Jack Black
PLOT: Dumped and depressed, Iris agrees to swap homes with similarly unlucky in love Amanda for a much-needed break. Iris finds herself in a palatial Hollywood mansion while Amanda navigates the lanes of a picture-perfect English village. Soon enough, both lovelorn ladies bump into local lads perfect for a romantic pick-me-up.
THE MOST ROM-COM ROM-COM EVER MADE?
There’s a lot of stuff I can’t explain about the world:
Does life exist on other planets?
Do UFOs visit our galaxy?
If a Kardashian falls when no one is around, does it make a sound?
But the biggest unexplained phenomenon in my life is how a rom-com hater such as myself has managed over the course of many years now to continually fall in love with perhaps the most rom-com rom-com ever made.
I no longer try to explain – I just accept. It works for me on a meta plain that makes me happy, and I’m able to forgive nearly every flaw and view it through rose-colored glasses.
THE PLOT OF THE HOLIDAY
The film stars Cameron Diaz as Amanda, said movie trailer maker, who has just broken up with boyfriend Ethan. Kate Winslet is Iris, a British newspaper columnist who has just discovered that the co-worker with whom she has been madly in love is now engaged to someone else.
Both ladies decide they need a change of scenery and visit a house exchange website online where they swap homes. Iris will use Amanda’s Hollywood mansion for the next couple weeks, whereas Amanda will call Iris’ quaint British cottage her temporary home.
Through a series of events that only seem to happen in the movies, Amanda finds herself in love with Iris’ brother Graham (Jude Law), while Iris has eyes for film composer Miles (Jack Black). Let hilarity and romance ensue.
Actually, the relationship in the movie I loved the most was between Winslet and an elderly screenwriter named Arthur (Eli Wallach) who lives next door to Amanda. Their scenes together, in which Arthur tells stories of Hollywood’s Golden Age and Iris finds a surprising shoulder to cry on, are absolutely charming.
My very favorite part of the movie is easily a scene in which Diaz pays a surprise trip to Law’s house and meets his two young daughters. I don’t know who these little actresses are or if they’ve done anything before or since, but they are heart tuggers and their interactions with both Diaz and Law, in particular, are quite wonderful.
Needless to say in movies like this, it’s not an easy road to love; and also needless to say, our heroes and heroines will find a way to have their happy endings. And just in time for New Year’s, too!
THE HOLIDAY IS HOLLYWOOD FANTASY
Let’s face it, this is Hollywood fantasy material – there’s not a scene of real life anywhere to be found.
This fits right in with director Nancy Meyers’ oeuvre which includes IT’S COMPLICATED with Meryl Streep, Alec Baldwin, and Steve Martin, as well as SOMETHING’S GOTTA GIVE with Oscar-nominated Diane Keaton and Jack Nicholson. And like those other two films, I fell for this one hook, line, and sinker.
The holidays are already a rather fantastical, other-worldy time in a strange sort of way, and THE HOLIDAY is definitely a highly enjoyable, fantastical, other-worldly movie.
JUDE LAW STEALS THE MOVIE
All four principal actors are quite appealing, and while this is definitely a film about the ladies, it was Jack Black and especially Jude Law whose performances I recall most vividly. Black is obviously not an actor known for subtlety, but here he is convincingly romantic with Winslet and has a nice rapport with Wallach and his band of senior citizen friends as well. Law is an actor I never really paid that much attention to, with the exception of his Oscar-nominated role in the brilliant TALENTED MR. RIPLEY, but here he could be heir apparent to Cary Grant. It’s a charming, lived-in, crowd-pleasing performance straight from a 40s Frank Capra or Howard Hawks movie.
RATING: ****1/2 out of *****
Do you enjoy romantic comedies? Did you have a great time watching THE HOLIDAY? Please share your thoughts with us below.
OTHER CHRISTMAS MOVIE AND TV POSTS YOU’RE SURE TO LIKE:
10 Classic 1990s Christmas TV Specials for Free on YouTube
Leave a Reply