Film Reviews

The Holiday
By Kate Lenehan


The Holiday is a romantic comedy directed by Nancy Meyers. Meyers is an extremely successful screen writer, producer and film director who has co-ordinated several big-screen successes including 'Somethings Gotta Give', 'The Parent Trap' and 'What Women Want'. 'The Holiday' proved no different when it came to success rate. The movie has proved extremely popular and as well as being nominated for six awards, Nancy Meyers' box office hit won the 'Teen Choice' award for best comedy.

The talented cast includes Cameron Diaz, Jude Law, Kate Winslet and Jack Black, all of whom are no strangers to the big screen.

Iris Simpkins works for a newspaper in England and has recently discovered that her boss/on-again off-again boyfriend Jasper is engaged. Amanda Woods is a 'Big Shot' advertising producer from Los Angeles who finds out that her long-term boyfriend has been cheat on her with his secretary.

The two heart broken girls meet on a home-exchange website. Both wishing to escape their day-to-day lives, they agree to swap houses for the Christmas Holidays. Soon after arriving at their holiday destinations, both women find the last thing that either wants nor expects, 'a new romance'.

'The Holiday' shows how two strong willed women cope with living on the other side of the world and how they deal with their new found romances.

I thoroughly enjoyed this movie. Its easy-to-follow story line and fun loving characters made it an extremely satisfying and pleasurable film to watch. What made 'The Holiday' extra entertaining was its well known and perfectly chosen cast. We have all seen the talent which Cameron Diaz, Kate Winslet, Jude Law and Jack Black posses, yet when united these actors and actresses shine even brighter. Each actor complements the others and all mesh so well together which results in the perfect romantic comedy.

The story line is an easy one to follow and may seem to some viewers quite predictable, though I feel that the clear plot allowed the movie to flow. It was enjoyable and effortless to watch the unfolding of the story with slight anticipation as to what was going to happen next.

I would recommend 'The Holiday' to any age group and every type of person. 'The Holiday' can be watched with the family, on a date, with friends, on a sleepover. The target audience is endless. It is a fun loving, easy going and relaxing film which entertains and even puts a smile on the saddest of faces.

Kate Lenehan -4R