The Holiday Review
by Clint Morris
It happens every year about this time - without fail. Just
after Christmas, a certain type of film is released (usually boxing day
or Christmas day) that’s as fluffy as rear-view mirror dice, as
challenging as the first level of Sonic, and as average as tofu ice
cream. It’s the studio system’s gift to its brightest stars – a futile
romantic comedy that serves as both, a) A holiday for its usually
challenged cast and, b) a way to quickly snag what money you’ve left
after Christmas, before the good stuff comes along and you waste it on
those offerings instead. Cameron Diaz is an American woman with
some major relationship problems. Kate Winslet is an English woman with
some major relationship problems. Both need a change of scenery.
Presto! They swap houses. When Amanda (Diaz) turns up in
England – to stay in Iris’s (Winslet) super small cottage – she
discovers an unlikely suitor in the charming Graham (Jude Law), Iris’s
brother.
Meantime, back in America, Iris meets the charming, Miles (Jack Black). Yeah, this one writes itself. The title says it all: The Holiday.
A chance for Hollywood’s finest – yeah OK, Jack Black ain’t that fine,
but stay with me on this – to bask in the sun, tell yarns with friends,
and generally just party in front of a camera. Yep, we tend to end of
the year, or start off a new one, but merely watching footage of
A-listers being paid $10 million to, well, wind down. When are we all
going to catch on this mega ruse? This is sugar-fairy fairy
floss. It looks like it could be a tasty bit of shameful pleasure, but
it isn’t. Nope, it’s bland and a real chore to get through. Maybe if
the film had had more spark in it, or something along the lines of a
script (rather than an outline) had been used to set it up, then those
135 minutes (!) would’ve been a little more tolerable. As it is, you
might as well be paying good money to have a sleep in a hard cinema
chair. Ok, there’s sprinkles of goodness here and there -
Diaz’s character cuts movie trailers for a living so there’s a lot of
good jokes about that, including a constant voice-over of her life by
that chap that voices the trailers, and Eli Wallach, as a veteran
screenwriter about to achieve a lifetime achievement award, has some
sweet moments – but its like being left the crumbs from a piece of
cake. She’s no Scorsese, but Nancy Meyers (Something’s Gotta Give, What Women Want) can do better. 2 out
of 5 The Holiday
Australian
release: 26th December,
2006
Cast: Cameron Diaz, Kate Winslet, Jude Law, Jack Black, Eli Wallach
Director: Nancy Meyers
Website: Click
here.
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