Susan Granger’s review of “The Holiday” (Universal/Columbia)
Admittedly, this is a chick-flick. Guys may groan but gals are gonna love it.
Workaholic Amanda (Cameron Diaz) owns a successful Hollywood movie marketing company but can’t seem to relate to relationships; she’s just evicted her latest live-in (Edward Burns) after he’s been unfaithful with a 24 year-old receptionist.
Iris (Kate Winslet) is a London newspaper columnist who’s suffered for years from toxic unrequited love for a caddish co-worker (Rufus Sewell) who has just jilted her.
Both women are neurotic and quite miserable, faced with spending Christmas alone.
Surfing the ‘net, Amanda gets an impetuous idea: she’ll do a transatlantic house swap for two weeks – her luxurious mansion in sunny Los Angeles for Iris’ quaint Rose Hill cottage in snowy Surrey. Stunned, Iris agrees.
But what Amanda doesn’t expect is Iris’ sensitive brother, Graham (Jude Law), who lurches onto her doorstep the first night she arrives, tipsy from too much to drink at the local pub. And Iris is equally surprised to make the acquaintance of Miles (Jack Black), a sweet, self-deprecating film composer – and her elderly neighbor, Arthur, a crusty Oscar-winning screenwriter (Eli Wallach) who teaches her about cinematic leading ladies with “gumption.”
Nancy Meyers (“Something’s Gotta Give,” “What Women Want”) has come up with a contrived ‘What if?” wish-fulfillment premise – but it works. While Cameron Diaz does her usual, superficial ditz, Kate Winslet grows in sexy confidence and self-esteem before our eyes. Jude Law exudes a Cary Grant-like British charm and Jack Black is pleasantly engaging, if totally miscast. As for Eli Wallach, he’s a wonder; at 91, he’s now America’s oldest working actor. On the Granger Movie Gauge of 1 to 10, “The Holiday” is a sugary, sentimental 7. Like “Love, Actually,” it’s the Christmas comedy you’ve been waiting for.
