The Holiday

Rating:	★★★★
Category:	Movies
Genre:	Romantic Comedy

If I could get the hell out of Manila and away from my job, I would. I mean, who wouldn’t right? In “The Holiday”, both Amanda (Cameron Diaz) and Iris (Kate Winslet) are desperate to get out of their respective jobs not just for a change in scenery. They’re both trying to get away from relationships that just stunk. Each woman has been hurt by men who didn’t appreciate them and effectively used them as doormats. With that in mind, they meet up online and decide to swap homes for Christmas.

Director Nancy Meyers has proven herself to be pretty capable in the romantic comedy genre. After all, hers was the guiding hand behind recent rom-coms as “The Parent Trap”, “What Women Want”, and “Something’s Gotta Give”. With “The Holiday” though, Meyers puts two strong female characters as her lead stars. Their dilemmas and heartbreaks push this film, and it is their evolution and adapting to a new status quo that ultimately makes the film as well.

Amanda suffered through her parents’ divorce, as well as the cheating ways of her boyfriend Ethan (Edward Burns). She’s the head of her own movie trailer editing house, and successful in Los Angeles, however her breakup with Ethan leaves her depressed. Iris has long pined for Jasper Bloom (Rufus Sewell) as she works in a London newspaper. Jasper, smarmy as he is, says he loves Iris too… then he goes and proposes marriage to someone else. Iris is devastated and wants to forget England, if only for a short time.

Now, I have to admit that the main reason I was curious about this film was seeing Jack Black in the trailer. I had never seen the star of such arthouse triumphs as “Nacho Libre” and “Tenacious D in the Pick of Destiny” in a rom-com before, so I wanted to see how he’d do in the genre. As musical scorer Miles, Black is charming and magnetic without coming across as sleazy or overbearing. He makes for a sympathetic hero, someone who Iris can easily turn to. When he’s played for a schmuck by girlfriend Maggie (Shannyn Sossamon), you actually wanted to make sure he was okay.

Jude Law was also brilliant in this film. For once, Law’s portrayal of Iris’ brother Graham isn’t a conniving cad who jumps from one woman to another. He’s genuinely charming (there’s that word again) as a widower and single father who’s trying to raise two daughters while also looking for a new love. It’s easy to see why Amanda would be attracted to him physically, but his devotion to his kids clearly put his appeal level to women over the top.

What Meyer has done in “The Holiday” is craft an engaging, cute, yet not-overly-cheesy romantic comedy that won’t leave you rolling your eyes for two hours. Each of these four main characters were given their time to shine, and each actor delivered. Okay, Jo hates Cameron Diaz, and I have to admit that I don’t think she’s a good actress either. But in tis film, she does a halfway decent job of portraying the clumsy American who’s been beat up in past her relationships.

I am so thankful that Meyers and company gave screentime to Hollywood legend Eli Wallach. The great character actor (who once played the villain in “The Magnificent Seven) effectively steals every scene he shows up in. As aging screenwriter Arthur Abbott, Wallach’s stories of old Hollywood and his burgeoning friendship with Iris help make the film have more substance than the usual films of this genre.

Ultimately, “The Holiday” is still a romantic comedy, but it keeps the comedy on an intelligent, non-slapstick level. Though the final scene was a bit confusing to Jo and myself, we ultimately agreed that this was a fun film to watch. Now if only I could do a house-swap to get miles away from the drudgery of my work…