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The Holiday movie review

Amanda (Cameron Diaz) is a high-maintenance woman in a high-pressure business -- making movie trailers in Los Angeles California where she lives is a big L.A. house. Iris (Kate Winslet) is a British newspaper journalist who lives in a sweet little cottage at the end of a lane. Amanda would be in tears over her unfaithful now-ex boyfriend, if she could cry. She decides to break the habit of a lifetime and take some time off. She finds on the net a home-swapping service, where two people exchange homes and cars for a certain period of time. The home she likes is Iris'.

Iris, meanwhile, is suffering months of unrequited love for a man who NEEDS her, but has just become engaged to someone else.

Movie poster, The Holiday; Festivale film review

Movie poster, The Holiday; Festivale film review

Two very different women with one dilemma -- how to get through the Christmas holidays alone.

This is the latest offering of the very able writer/director Nancy Meyers, and she is as strong as ever. The adventures of Amanda and Iris are intercut, each woman is out of place, although it is Amanda who nearly heads home after a couple of hours.

Since this is a romantic comedy, each woman meets a man who lives and works in the area (Jude Law and Jack Black), and the two women recover from their broken hearts in the healing environment of their new friend's homes, and in the attentions of newer, nicer men.

From the opening narration by Iris, we are drawn into the lives of the two women and the people that they meet. The cast is small and includes Eli Wallach as an elderly screenwriter who Iris befriends. All the performers make the most of the excellent script to create engaging characters for whom we wish the best. Utterly enjoyable.

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by Ali Kayn
Due for Australian release 26 Dec 2006
For credits and official site details, see below
Search Festivale for more work by the film-makers below.

See also: Nancy Meyers also wrote It's Complicated ; Something's Gotta Give ; Nancy Meyers also wrote It's Complicated ; The Holiday ; The Parent Trap; Father of the Bride II; Father of the Bride; Jumpin' Jack Flash(as Patricia Irving); Baby Boom ; Irreconcilable Differences ; Private Benjamin ; The Parent Trap; Father of the Bride II; Father of the Bride; Jumpin' Jack Flash(as Patricia Irving); Baby Boom ; Irreconcilable Differences ; Private Benjamin

Just the facts:

Title: The Holiday (2006)
Written by: Nancy Meyers
Directed by: Nancy Meyers
running time: 138 mins
rating: M

The Players: Cameron Diaz, Kate Winslet, Jude Law, Jack Black, Eli Wallach

Official website:
IMDb entry

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