The Holiday
★★★ 1/2
I'm not much of a reader, but I equate The Holiday to escaping into a book, wrapped up in a blanket next to a warm fire. It's a completely secure and pleasant tale, with extremely likable characters. Though I have never been the biggest fan of Cameron Diaz's acting ability, she plays up to the strengths of Jude Law, Jack Black and especially, Kate Winslet. If you are a fan of movies and especially rom-coms, it's hard not to fall in love with the movie within a movie aspect of this film, although the "trailers" in this movie don't work at all.
Director Nancy Meyers brings her vintage crisp look to the settings and brings a mystique to these love stories that somehow feel both magical and realistic at the same time. It's easy to knit-pick the strides that are made in all the relationships within a week's time, but it's easy to forget such things when everybody is so relatable. As someone who was always dubbed as the "nice guy" I love how this movie is a celebration of the men that do the right things in life. And that includes the veteran screenwriter, Arthur, played by the charming Eli Wallach. He steals the movie and I really appreciate the friendship that grows between him and Iris (Winslet).
A small fault of the film is that it has no problem taking its time. This story did not need to run over two hours, but it has an undeniable confidence in its plot. The fact that it has a beautiful score by Hans Zimmer to back up all of the fun performances makes it an easy pick to watch every year around the winter holiday season.
