The Holiday

On average I see 2 or 3 romantic comedies every year and usually I find them to be cute for about 40 minutes and eventually just go overkill on the sweet and like over syrupy pancakes, I have no use for them. So I went into this movie with no real delight. Add to the fact that I hate Jack Black, Cameron Diaz and often Jude Law, I have no idea what got into me when I decided to join a friend for this movie. Nevertheless, I fully enjoyed the movie and even gained some respect for Jack Black in the process. The Movie stars the brilliant Kate Winslet as a woman fed up in love (rightfully so as well) and so she needs a change. Lucky for her Diaz is also looking for a change, so they decide to swap houses for the Christmas holiday. Winslet inherits Diaz’s gorgeous Los Angeles mansion while Diaz inherits a quaint, cute little European cottage in Surrey. While Winslet falls right in love with Los Angeles, Diaz does not enjoy Surrey. Well that was until she met the drunk, gorgeous and incredibly charming Jude Law. I imagine most women would fall in love with a country if Mr. Law started sweet talking them so one cannot fault Diaz for the change. Stateside, Kate is trying to wash a smarmy Rufus Sewell out of her hair because he took her for granted for years and she had finally had it, although she was still secretly pining for him. Enter a very toned down and utterly convincing Jack Black as a sensitive yet passionate musician.


What follows could be considered a fairly basic game of cat and mouse, or a better named game would be lets all hide our feelings inside because we fear pain. While things like this often annoy me in movies, the script handles the entire thing with genuine emotion and a realistic underlying pain. When jack Black finds out his girlfriend was cheating on him Kate goes into this amazingly real monologue about “The wrong guy” or the “wrong girl”. I wanted to applaud when it was all over. Of course, I really wanted to cry because of how true it was. Also, we learn Jude Law has a very good reason to be cold and standoffish. A reason better left to people who actually see the film. Never does this movie appear fake or at face value. I know a lot of that realism belongs in the hands of the actors but the movie is directed by an up and coming romantic comedy director who seems to have found her groove after movies like “What women want” and “Something’s got to give”. She seems to have a real eye for catching the fantasy of movie romances in a light or realism that leaves those of us watching with a sense of hope, no matter how false that hope may be.


Another thing I would be remiss to mention is a huge side plot involving Kate’s character. She is a writer and while in Los Angeles she is living next door to a very old man who was a part of old Hollywood as a screen writer. The part is played by Eli Wallach and he is something to behold. He is just the right amount of old school charm and old school knowledge. I honestly have no idea who he is but he adds so much to the movie and even gets Kate’s character to watch all these classic movies starring classic Hollywood beauties who all had “Gumption.” It is because of all those movies that Kate is finally able to put the sleazy Rufus in the past and allows her to take a chance with Jack Black. I wanted to despise this movie but it won me over very early on and the only real complaint I can give it is that it really shows us how much better of an actress Kate Winslet is than Cameron Diaz.