CLEMENTINE'S REVIEWS

31st March 2009
The Holiday (2006)

Writer: Nancy Meyers
Director: Nancy Meyers
Starring: Kate Winslet, Cameron Diaz, Jack Black, Jude Law, Eli Wallach, Rufus Sewell, Edward Burns.

Two women are going through their own relationship crisis - Iris  (Winslett) has just found out the man she's been in love with for 3 years is engaged to another woman, and Amanda (Diaz), unable and uninterested in shedding a tear for years, has ended her relationship  with cheating boyfriend Ethan (Burns).

Both women are in need of a break and the perfect opportunity comes  up through a house exchange - Amanda in LA and Iris in Surrey agree  to swap homes for the Christmas holidays. After arrival they begin to make friends in their new surroundings. Amanda encounters Iris'  complicated brother Graham (Law), and Iris makes friends with the  brilliant aging writer Arthur (Wallach) and Amanda's composer collegue Miles (Black), leading to potential romantic entanglement on both sides.

This is a film of opposites. Iris' story is compelling and Winslet brilliantly conveys the loneliness and pain of a woman with a broken heart with warmth and real charisma. Amanda's story is horribly unconvincing and Diaz's attempt at acting is incredibly painful. The only thing she seems to get right is the inability of her character to show any real emotion. Is 'annoying' an emotion? I can hardly  fathom the fact she can't even *run* convincingly. Poor Jude Law is acting against a wall, working hard to create some sort of chemistry with Diaz but it just dies every time she's on screen. I found myself cringing at how uncharismatic she is as an actor. It is not her character that falls down, I can imagine two dozen other actresses who could take the material and run miles with it.

Winslet is a true star who in one single scene chatting to Black on the couch elevates the film with her delivery and presence. Black, severely underused, is guilelessly charming in his own way, knowing the power of playing it simple. Eli Wallach is highly commendable and his story with Winslet is probably the most interesting of the lot.

The film averages out to be a bit bland, but if you removed all the entire Diaz storyline, it is actually a very enjoyable film.