The Holiday
(2006)
What's this? A chick flick? Yes indeed. I am a big sap, and that means I like watching romcoms. I do promise that this is the one and only romcom I will write about on the site. Unless something comes up where I would need to write about My Big Fat Greek Wedding.
The Holiday is a movie about two heartbroken women, one from Surrey and the other one from Los Angeles, who swap houses for two weeks. Amanda, the woman from L.A., owns a company that produces movie trailers, and Iris, the woman from Surrey, is the editor for the society column the The Daily Telegraph on London. Soon after she arrives in L.A., Iris meets Miles (Jack Black) and lovable old Arthur, who used to write screenplays in his youth. Amanda meets Iris' brother Graham and has a one night stand. Both women end up finding love where they weren't expecting it, blah blah blah. Pretty standard stuff.
While the story itself is not anything super groundbreaking, the performances of the stars in this movie is what makes it so special. The only one I can't really get behind is Amanda, played by Cameron Diaz. I'm not sure what it is, but I just don't love her character as much as I do the others. At the same time, I can't imagine the character being played by anyone else. And the real surprise here is Jack Black. I've always liked him, but I didn't expect him to be a good fit as Kate Winslet's love interest. He knocks it out of the park though!
If you want a good movie to watch with a date or girlfriend this Christmas season, this would be a good choice!