The Holiday

The 2006 American rom com, The Holiday, has all the ingredients needed to be a sappy, corny throwaway flick of the season meant purely to entertain its crowd and not much else, but it manages to become a touch more than that. While these kind of Christmas rom coms have garnered a bit of a staple in today’s society (even to the point of becoming their own form of mocking tribute for the holiday), some feel competently constructed enough that in spite of the familiar tropes, over-the-top environment, and often stale and incredibly hyperactive characters, they work out and The Holiday is one such example. In the holiday season just before New Years Eve, two women on opposite sides of the world suffer heartbreaks of a different variety. In London, society columnist for the Daily Telegraph, Iris Simpkins (played by Kate Winslet) is heartbroken to discover her ex-boyfriend who previously cheated on her, Jasper (played by Rufus Sewell) is engaged, and in Los Angeles, movie trailer producer, Amanda Woods (played by Cameron Diaz) has learned her boyfriend also cheated on her with another woman. Both feeling dejected with love and needing a faraway trip for the holidays, they find each other on a swap house website, and each agree to trade houses for two weeks. Once they arrive, both have trouble adjusting yet are quickly introduced to people that distract them away from their worries. Iris meets Arthur Abbott (played by Eli Wallach), an elderly neighbor who was once a writer in the Golden Age of Hollywood, as well as Amanda’s work colleague, Mike (played by Jack Black) whom she starts to get to know more about, and Amanda meets Iris’ brother, Graham (played by Jude Law) in which a romance also starts to bloom between the two of them.  Though not expecting it, these two women may have found the exact thing they needed on this boy-free vacation and eventually find the nerve to push past their own dilemmas and grow from them. Met with a mixed critical reception, yet proved fairly at the box office, The Holiday is not the most interesting or even well written movie but manages to be cozily sweet in the right way.

In most situations or movies like this, audience members have a pretty good idea what to expect from the cast, the plot and even the tone. Its ironic that the film openly mocks overly exaggerated trailers with stale predictable plots when it isn’t too far off from one of those in presentation, with an atmosphere that definitely feels more chaotic and sporadically chirpier in a sense that feels more familiar within the world of a rom com than in reality. This also follows into the story, with the idea of two women in opposite countries trading houses for a vacation and somehow romance blossoms feeling very cheesy, and even the movie is unable to hide this element as the progression is incredibly predictable. Its not like the film needed to be packed with twists and turns and it thankfully avoids some obvious rom-com stereotypes that really would’ve put a sour note on this picture, but its an incredibly safe, by-the-numbers and obvious film that doesn’t offer much in terms of inventive or creative writing (whether romantic or even humor) to give off a unique personality. Its also much longer than it needs to be, with the content on display not really feeling worthy enough of a two-hour running time and it can be felt when watching it (100 mins would’ve been suffice). With all this in mind and despite these obvious problems, the film still manages to come across as fairly likeable, sweet, and even decently led all things considered and a lot of that seems to come from the genuine heart of the actors, the legitimate chemistry shared between most of them, and the direction. Nancy Meyers is highly regarded as one of the most influential female filmmakers in the romantic comedy genre and has had plenty of experience working as a writer and a director in the space from writing movies like Private Benjamin, Baby Boom and the 1991 version of Father of the Bride, and directing the 1998 version of The Parent Trap, Something’s Gotta Give and What Women Want.  While the movie is still corny and her writing in the film is not that strong, it feels like her directing is pretty effective here as she’s able to control that nice balance of giving people the overly sugary and fluffy romantic fantasy without coming across as demeaning. The actors are all commanded well, the film may be too long, but the pace of the film isn’t too terrible, and whenever an actor is allowed to just stay grounded and play out a scene in a mostly serious manner, it works fairly well, it’s a good showcase of why she’s a highly regarded talent.

Romance would be nothing without people you’re interested in at the focus, and this film doesn’t have a large assortment of characters, but the ones that are given focus are decently likeable enough to be around. Thankfully the limited options mean there isn’t room for stereotypical caricatures that’d you see in these kind of movies, and while these roles definitely feel cartoonishly basic from their desires, arcs and personalities, the actors are strong enough to make them work. Getting two separate romances at the same time in two different locations can mean that sometimes, there is an imbalance in time, and one certainly outweighs the other (with the romance between Diaz and Law getting far more attention than Winslet and Black), but what’s nice is that both have something different to offer because both feel fairly different in how they play out. The relationship between Diaz and Law feels more traditional in the way the chemistry builds, how the two interact and how they feel like a standard romantic couple through the banter they have, the dilemmas they go through and the resolutions they come to, whilst Winslet and Black feels more like a ‘’best friends which evolve to into something more’’ kind of deal, which makes their dynamic feel a lot more personable, down-to-earth and casual. Also, the mini arc involving Eli Wallach’s character is honestly very nice and takes up a good chunk of Winslet’s portion of the film but proves to be all the better for it. In terms of acting, each of the four leads is very good at being likeable and endearing, and for the most part, share very nice romantic chemistry between their respected parts. On the Jack Black and Kate Winslet side, they don’t necessarily have strong romantic chemistry, but they definitely give off a strong friendship dynamic that’s fun to watch, and both Winslet’s and Black’s goofier presentation makes both of them fairly adorkable and endearing to be around. On the flip side, Cameron Diaz and Jude Law actually make for a really great romantic couple, as both are charismatic, charming, feel like traditional rom-com leads, and have a lot of strong chemistry between each other. Most of the roles are quite minor but most of the acting from them is also okay. Eli Walach is actually very good as the elderly neighbor and shares a lot of great scenes with Winslet, and Rufus Sewell is a little basic but perfectly serviceable as the cheating ex-boyfriend.

Even though the film isn’t technically a Christmas film despite being labelled as such (it starts off with Christmas and features a lot of Christmas music and themes yet finishes with a New Years party so it’s a little weird), it definitely gives off the impression of a holiday film from a very subdued yet quaintly beautiful visual design that really showcases the flavor of the holidays. Definitely spotlighted more within London, with the falling snow against a small and softly lit stone cottage in the middle of the countryside really capturing that feeling of a white Christmas, with most of the America section not really doing much to feel like the season outside of an occasional line or decoration. With that in mind, it does still feel like it works for the season and the overall production design for the film by Jon Hutman is nothing dramatic or overly noticeable yet works for what the film is going for. The musical score is very theatrical and could very easily become annoying and too in-your-face with how prevalent and overly active it is, but it’s a piece that is thankfully well constructed and features enough fun melodic flairs underneath the traditional beats and instrumentation of a rom-com soundtrack to make it work much better than the alternative. This makes more sense as Hans Zimmer was the one who composed the score, which explains how effective it is and how it manages to still be something worthwhile and memorable even when it doesn’t need to be. For something that is labelled as a ‘’romantic comedy’’, the film isn’t really that funny, but to its credit, it doesn’t feel like its trying to really make you laugh this time around. Its not like the film has a lot of lame jokes that crash and burn, but rather it’s just a movie that’s played straight with the only humorous elements coming from an occasional over reaction or a quippy line from one of the actors (which isn’t even enough to labelled it as a comedy). It’s appreciated that the film doesn’t force any lame humor into the picture as it could’ve killed the mood, but its weird that its still under the banner when it arguably shouldn’t be.

The Holiday does its job by acting as an overly sweet dose of eggnog for the holiday season without resulting in a massive sugar high after the period has come and gone. There are definitely better rom coms out there with stronger plots, better characters, and more engaging scripts, but for what this movie is and how it sets out delivering itself, it does it even a little better than it arguably could have. The plot is beyond basic, the characters aren’t the most interesting and the writing is pretty stale, but the directing is pretty good, the atmosphere is nice, the tone isn’t annoying, and the actors are legitimately pretty strong and result in a showcase of two nice couples. Its not going to work for everybody (especially for those who don’t get into this genre), but for those who either like it or are willing to see one to gage if it can win you over, this might work for you.