The Holiday (2006)

Iris (Kate Winslett), attractive, if somewhat dowdy, young English journalist (she works for that citadel of fogeyism, the "Daily Telegraph"), on the rebound from an affair with the shiftless Jasper (Rufus Sewell), one of the paper's columnists, decides she needs a Christmas holiday. She goes on-line and has soon swapped her Christmas-card pretty, but cramped, Surrey cottage with a mansion in Bel – Air owned by Amanda (Cameron Dias), the ebullient head of a company that makes movie trailers, who has just thrown out her latest useless partner. The girls swap places and in no time Amanda is romancing Iris's dishy brother Graham (Jude Law). Meanwhile in Hollywood Iris is getting to know Miles (Jack Black), a workmate of Amanda's, and a 90 year old neighbour, Arthur (Eli Wallach) who happens to be one of Hollywood's forgotten great writers.

One can of course dismiss this sort of stuff as glossy fairy floss because basically, despite all the money and talent expended in making it, that is what it is - "Love, Improbable." This film is rather long for its genre, over two hours, and it does drag a bit, as if the scriptwriters couldn't decide how to end it. However it must be admitted that Kate Winslett and Jude Law are always interesting to watch on screen and Cameron Diaz has a nice line in parodying some of her earlier performances. Rufus Sewell shows he can out-act Hugh Grant any day (not hard I guess). Jack Black on the other hand seemed strangely out of place as Ms W's love interest – romantic comedy doesn't seem to be his forte, he's more of your gross-out guy. It was nice though to see Eli Wallach, a great Hollywood tough guy of old, who at 90 seems to have the market for nice old buffers sewn up, as the neighbour.

Perhaps I am setting my standard too high, but compared to "Four Weddings and a Funeral", "Notting Hill", "Bedrooms and Hallways" and even "Love, Actually", this was a pile of mush, far too sweet and sticky and nice. Good comedy needs a certain bite, a reality bite, a bit of astringency, whereas what we are given here is pure fairyland escapism. Writer/Director Nancy Myers has a record of light entertaining stuff ("The Parent Trap", "Father of the Bride") and she certainly is not trying to extend her range here.

Fmovies: Well I have to confess I was dreading seeing this film, but actually I loved it.

The story is quite fantastical. But once you can go along with the ridiculous plot, it is very funny and totally charming. It's a bit like eating liquid chocolate, and somehow manages to last for 2 hours and 10 minutes without you feeling sick.

At the start of the film, the acting is very hammy, but this removes your desire for believability enough to carry the film. Cameron Diaz and Jude Law look absolutely lovely. Kate Winslett really pulls off her comedic role brilliantly. The are some beautiful touching moments about Hollywood history and a couple of famous faces appear in cameo roles. The English countryside is lovely. Lots of laughter and tears in the audience.

The nutritional value of chocolate is limited. This film will uplift you though if nothing else. Excellent Christmas movie (from a bloke!).

What would at first seem to be a particularly predictable storyline turns out to be a wonderfully written, beautifully told love story. Two women currently unhappy in their own skins decide to temporarily trade lives, or homes at least. Iris (Kate Winslet) escapes the horror of unrequited love and ends up in an enormously plush house in L.A. Amamda (Cameron Diaz), fresh out of an unfaithful relationship finds herself in a cramped little cottage on the outskirts of a small English town. While Iris is immediately impressed with her new surroundings, Amanda needs a little convincing and this comes along in the form of Graham (Jude Law), Iris's brother, in whom Amanda takes an immediate, if very reluctant interest. The story goes on from there to include a mixture of both wonderfully cliché and surprisingly original situations. The dialogue between the characters is brilliantly written and completely believable and the little snippets of movie trivia along the way keep it interesting and fresh. This movie was a delight to encounter and will be a pleasure to watch over and over again.

The Holiday fmovies. The Holiday is about two women who each have recently had problems with the men in their lives. Amanda lives in California and Iris lives in England. Neither of these women have ever met before, but they both want to escape for the holidays, so they talk online and decide to swap houses and automobiles for two weeks, so in other words Amanda would be staying at Iris's house in England and Iris would be staying at Amanda's house in California. Once they both reach their destinations they are both pretty bitter about men, but each of them soon meets different men in their lives who mean a lot to them and may make their holiday something to remember. The Holiday has good direction, a good script, good performances by the entire cast and good original music. At first I wasn't really getting into this film and thought it would be a film that would probably appeal more to a woman than to me. Also the Amanda character played by Cameron Diaz annoyed me at first and I found her kind of artificial and ego centric. However as the film played on I found myself really liking this film. The characters grew on me and I found quite a bit to like about this movie. The chemistry between all the different characters works very well and their parts are all quite well written and the actors playing them each do a good job. I found that the film also developed and showed a lot about these characters which I enjoyed because the more I got to know about them the more I liked them and they were able to grow on me more. Each character in this film brings something unique to the table by being different and by really making this film more interesting than perhaps it sounds. The really rewarding thing about this film is how well the characters work with one another and that they are well written and well acted. This film is a romantic comedy and for the most part a lot of romantic comedies do not do a whole lot for me because I find them silly and more for the female viewer than the male viewer, but this movie offers a lot of humour, heart and is just generally a pleasant feel good film that I think both male and female viewers will enjoy. One of the better films of the year and one of the better romantic comedies of recent years as well.

(Synopsis) Two beautiful women, Amanda Woods (Cameron Diaz) and Iris Simpkins (Kate Winslet) both find themselves at the end of failed relationships just before Christmas. Amanda decides to take a two week vacation and surfs the internet. She meets Iris online, and they agree to swap their homes for the holidays. Amanda lives in Los Angles and Iris lives in the countryside of Surrey, England. Even though they now have a change of scenery and want no contact with men, they are both still depressed and lonely. But things are about to change when Iris' brother Graham (Jude Law) drops by Iris' house and meets Amanda. On the other side of the world, Iris meets Miles (Jack Black) a film composer. Romance is in the air and sparks are about to fly.

(My Comment) If you want to see a romantic comedy with real chemistry, especially between Cameron Diaz and Jude Law this is one chick flick you must see. This movie is a good date movie that is actually entertaining and sweet. You are actually seeing two love stories instead of one. There is a great subplot of the friendship between Kate Winslet and Eli Wallach's character that will touch your heart. Actually, I enjoyed that part of the movie the best. Overall, the movie was enjoyable to watch with touching and funny scenes throughout the movie. The ending is predictable, but what do you expect, it is a romantic comedy. You will leave the movie feeling good, and isn't that what movies are all about. (Columbia Pictures, Run time 2:18, Rated PG-13)(8/10)

I laughed. I cried. I awed. My jaw even dropped a couple of times. This movie surpassed all of my original expectations. At almost two and a half hours, I thought it might drag on, but I never felt like it was really that long. This movie is not only about heartbreak and heart ache, it's about finding yourself and appreciating the true things in life. I felt that Kate and Cameron did a wonderful job. Their characters come from two very different worlds yet they both seek the same thing...escape. They encounter so much more upon arriving at their destinations, and ultimately end up finding the completely unexpected. Jude is a star charmer as always, and Jack, well, he's Jack. Seeing this movie should be on everyone's holiday "to-do" lists, and I can guarantee it will be in my DVD collection once it is released. Nancy Meyers hit a home run with this one and it is sure to bring everyone a nice large dose of holiday spirit.