The Holiday - 10th July 2012

Tuesday Night is Film Night continues with yet another romantic comedy, this time we get to go on;

The Holiday

Well, first off The Holiday is set at Christmas, so it's really a bit like Love Actually in that respect and would be a great movie to watch at the festive season.

However, and  also like Love Actually, it's stands up on it's own, as a great romantic comedy to watch at any time of the year.

Also, and this is the last comparison I'll draw with Love Actually, The Holiday is about multiple relationships that intertwine and interact throughout the story.

Oh and one last comparison to Love Actually, really I mean it, The Holiday is really rather good!

OK let's cut to the chase and tell you what the stories are about, yes stories, with have multiple relationships going on in The Holiday, with two lives, running parallel stories throughout the film.

Firstly we have Amanda Woods portrayed by the delightful Cameron Diaz. Secondly we have Iris Simpkins, played by the equally delightful and lovely, Kate Winslet. Both characters kick off the story with men trouble. Amanda discovers her partner has cheated on her and Iris discovers the man she has been in "unrequited" love with, is getting engaged to another woman.

Unable to bear being upset, alone, lonely and at home at the holiday season they chance upon a holiday exchange, where they swap houses. I should point out at this juncture, that Iris is in England and is now heading for LA. While Amanda is based in the US and is now heading for rural Surrey.

So, the two ladies are now alone and in somebody else's home at Christmas. So not really further forward.
Until that is they meet, by chance, their soon to be, "love interest".

Jude Law plays Graham, who just happens to be Iris's brother and bumps into Amanda, who is staying at Iris's cottage remember?

Whereas, in LA Iris meets Miles, played by the inimitable Jack Black, who happens to be a friend of Amanda's ex.

It's not too confusing really.

The Holiday is a rather long film, running as it does at 2 hours and 10 minutes, but it is worth every single minute of those 130 minutes. This in part thanks to a very exceptional thread to the story where Iris befriends an elderly neighbour in LA, played by Eli Wallach, this gives the intertwined love stories another level and a great feelgood feeling to the film, because you know it will all come good at the end! And if you juxtapose this thread with the discovery that Graham (Jude Law) has kids, then you're on to a sure fire tear jerker of a finale.

Which of course there is, but I don't want to spoil that for you!