Seen: March 18th, 2007
Format: DVD
Rating: 6
I love Eli Wallach. He's the best thing about this film.
And that's a shame, because I like the rest of the cast in this film too. It's not their fault the film doesn't really deliver.
The premise of the film is very promising; Go someplace you know nothing about to escape your problems. We all do this. It's human nature. The only complaint we have is that we can't do it often enough or go far enough away. Lost doesn't count.
But The Holiday tries to be too much. It's a holiday film. It's a romantic films times two, or three, or four, depending how you count. It's a personal growth and discovery film. It's respect the elderly, they have a lot to offer film. And it's all packed into about 140 minutes.
The characters are interesting, but have little back story and remain under developed. We know more about Arthur than we do about Miles. Iris is so simple, even in her personal transformation. Jasper is a caricature. Graham is interesting only through the quirk of being a devoted single Dad. Amanda is perhaps the most interesting of the lot, despite her multiple neuroses. Diaz overplays a bit, but that seems to work.
It amazes me how badly Jack Black is underused here. I don't expect to see him go off at every moment, but this restraint here is claustrophobic. Perhaps he can't be too interesting to make Maggie and Iris's actions plausible. He's just so plain that it frustrates me.
All the same, it's a sweet little film. It plucks all the right heart strings at the right time, and it's difficult not to respond to, especially when kids are involved. Some parts a corny, which can be overlooked. It's sincere if a bit structured. It's not any masterpiece, but it meets its aspirations.
Relax, take your critic's hat off. See it with a loved one. Be willing to trade a few hours of your life for a few good lines and warm, if manufactured feelings.
The Good: Fundamental warm and fuzzies.
The Bad: Jack Black lost in translation.
The Ugly: Trite Santa Ana metaphor.
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