DIRECTOR: Nancy Meyers.
GENRE: Comedy / Drama / Romance.
CAST: Cameron Diaz (Amanda Woods), Kate Winslet (Iris Simpkins), Jude Law (Graham), Jack Black (Miles), and Eli Wallach (Arthur Abbott).
AWARDS: 1 win and 4 nominations.
RUNTIME: 138 min.
It is true that there haven’t been a lot of good romantic comedies in recent years, so it is really a pleasure to watch one that is absolutely adorable, entertaining, and requires little thought to enjoy. Directed by Nancy Meyers, The Holiday is a good, cute romantic comedy performed by a group of actors who do admirable jobs in trying to convince all their fans that real love exists, and that it is possible to find it no matter how far away it may be.
The film starts with Cameron Diaz who plays Amanda Woods, a wealthy, beautiful young woman who lives in Southern California and owns a very famous advertising firm in charge of creating movie trailers. Iris Simpkins (Kate Winslet) is a nice, hard-working lady responsible for the popular wedding column in London’s Daily Telegraph. Iris is in love with a man who is about to marry another woman, while Amanda, on the other hand, has just realized that the man she lives with has been unfaithful. Two women who are on the verge of emotional breakdowns meet online and decide to switch homes for a couple of days to relax and forget about men. As soon as possible, they fly across the Atlantic. Amanda moves to a small, typical English snow-covered cottage and Iris to a huge mansion located in Los Angeles.
Shortly after they arrive to their new destinations, both women find something totally unexpected that ends up changing their lives completely: a new romance. Amanda falls deeply in love with Iris’ brother named Graham (Jude Law) and Iris meets Miles (Jack Black), a very famous film composer who ends up being a perfect friend and ideal company. Throughout the film, Iris is also befriended by Arthur (Eli Wallach); a lovely, well-known screenwriter from Hollywood’s Golden Era that helps Iris mend her heart by giving her the advice of a wise, old man and also by allowing her to take care of him.
The Holiday is undoubtedly a light, idealistic movie. Some people may believe that it doesn’t show something unexpected or new that is worth watching it. However, this is exactly what makes it particularly attractive. It seems that all the actors were especially chosen to perform their characters because they definitely proved they do no wrong – at least in this kind of films. Even the scenery provides the audience with a special sensation, maybe because it reminds us of Christmas time and the typical winter season in those countries. Another attractive feature of the movie is that it depicts great cultural differences between the United States and England such as transportation systems, roads, houses, shops, pubs, etc., something that is really interesting. The movie also has a very natural dialogue that makes it easy to understand. In fact, Nancy Meyers is enormously successful in trying to create this sense of reality in the characters, like the movie “Something’s Gotta Give” which was nominated for an Oscar because she accurately portrays relationships and situations that are just like real life. Of course certain aspects are much more exaggerated, but maybe that is the key to make people really attracted to the film. Anyway, there is no doubt that the characters in both movies are all charismatic and entertaining; definitely, a joy to watch.
By Rose Marie Kuschel R.
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