- This movie is really, really annoying in places and yet they compensate enough with dumb adorable moments designed to make women go “AWOMG” that it evens out overall. Very saccharine, very tooth decay inducing, but, you know, it’s like looking at a baby duck or something: you just don’t have the heart to hate it, even if you want to.
- Cameron Diaz is officially my least favourite actress in the entire world. Through the whole thing you can see her trying to act. It’s how I would act if someone were to cast me in a film, but luckily enough I’ve made a point of staying out of the motion picture industry. [My door is being beaten down by people offering me roles, really.] It’s how people who don’t know how to act think acting works but doesn’t actually. It’s almost painful. Her entire spaz attack when she finds out her boyfriend is cheating on her? Oh god, I wanted to stab her with something. And her whole “I haven’t cried since I was fifteen and now I’m physically incapable of doing so” schtick has to be the most annoying plot point ever introduced into a movie in the last twenty-five years, seriously. The one good thing I will say about her character was that because her character was a movie trailer editor, the Movie Trailer Guy’s voice kept showing up and narrating the pitfalls of her life, and that was rather hysterical. As was the mock-trailer featuring Lindsay Lohan and James Franco, mwahaha.
- Why on earth do they waste Kate Winslet on stuff like this. Notice that’s not a question, just a rather saddened statement. I’m hoping taking roles like this is what allows her to take on other stuff that brings her all the critical accolades she so richly deserves. She was as good as one can be in this movie, but even then she fell victim to the “Can you see I’m acting? I’M AN ACTRESS!” thing. Watching her play air guitar in bed was absolutely embarrassing, especially considering it’s not like she’s someone who has difficulty when her characters are supposed to be having a good time on screen. [Sadly, yes, I am comparing this to the whole "PARTY IN STEERAGE, WOOT!" scene in Titanic.] It was just … oh Kate, poor, poor Kate. Every time she had to laugh at one of Jack Black’s jokes, she looked like she was going to pop a blood vessel from fake-laughing too hard. It kind of made me really sad, but I love her anyway because she really did do the best with what she was given, and she certainly wasn’t given much.
- Hi Jude Law, why are you still so alarmingly hot despite that awful hairstyle you’ve been sporting lately at various high-profile events? Also, have they given him chest-wigs in previous films or have they made him less hairy for this one? No, I’m serious. And just when you thought he was an absolute cad who was too charming for his own good, THEY GO MAKE HIM A WIDOWER WITH TWO CHILDREN, ADORABLE BRITISH CHILDREN. [Erm, obviously.] Who wrote this script? It’s like they sat down and said “Well, alright, in case his adorable little smile hasn’t yet won over all the women in the audience, what’s the quickest way of reaching right in and twisting their ovaries into absolutely undoable knots? I KNOW: CHILDREN.” Bah, stupid writers, I hate falling victim to their attempts to manipulate me emotionally. I hate being manipulated emotionally, even more so when it is so completely obvious that that’s exactly what’s happening.
- The good thing is that Jack Black mostly played against character. The bad news is that’s kind of boring and not really what anyone wants when he shows up in a film. There were shades of Dewey Finn popping up occasionally, but he seemed rather guileless and bland. Every time he sat down to compose music, all I could think of was Barry from High Fidelity saying “There’s no way she likes that song! Oops, is she in a coma?” I imagine this is part of that whole “comedic actors like to prove their acting chops by taking on more restrained roles” (see Adam Sandler, Will Ferrell) but this is not really a situation where it works. However, the game he made up of singing all the theme songs to all the movies at Blockbuster was mildly amusing.
- Contrary to what the trailer might have wanted to show you, the real OTP in this film was Kate Winslet / the old screenwriter dude next door. I love platonic OTPs, they should happen more often. Their Hanukkah party was killer. I kind of got teary-eyed at his awards ceremony, aw.
- The zipper on the back of Kate Winslet’s New Year’s Eve dress was hideous. Could the costumers not have found a dress that had a much less obvious zipper on it? Egad.
- Dustin Hoffman’s random ten-second cameo was KILLER. Audrey nearly died, for she loves Hoffman and especially loves random cameos on his part. He randomly shows up at Blockbuster while Kate Winslet and Jack Black are playing the “Guess The Theme Song” game and Jack Black picks up The Graduate off the shelf and stars singing “Mrs Robinson”, naturally. Hoffman looks up from down the aisle with a look that says “WTF” and mutters “Can’t go anywhere…” LMAO WIN.
- I am perplexed as to why a woman who never leaves Los Angeles would have numerous winter coats in her wardrobe.
- I am also perplexed as to how these people get last minute flights during the holiday season without much trouble.
- I was really, really annoyed when Iris turned on the radio and it was Jet’s “Are You Gonna Be My Girl” because they played the start of the song and then cut straight to the guitar solo. Evidently the lyrics would kill us if we heard them.
- This movie would have been better with less Cameron Diaz (or none at all), more Kate + old guy, a more fleshed out role for Jack Black, and more of Jude Law hanging out with his kids.
- THE LINE ABOUT THE COW IN JUDE LAW’S BACK YARD FTW OMG.
- Oh, and Jim from The Office was in it briefly as one of Cameron Diaz’s employees.
The Holiday
At least my teeth didn’t rot.
IMDB Plot Synopsis Two women troubled with guy-problems swap homes in each other's countries, where they each meet a local guy and fall in love.