Last Holiday (2006)

User Rating:

6.3/10   

Director:

Wayne Wang

Writers (WGA):

Jeffrey Price (screenplay) &
Peter S. Seaman (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

13 January 2006 (USA)

Genre:

Adventure | Comedy | Drama

Tagline:

Enjoy yourself . . . It's later than you think!

Plot:

After she's diagnosed with a terminal illness, a shy woman decides to take a European vacation.

Plot Keywords:

Chef | Senator | Hotel | New Orleans | Terminal Illness

Awards:

6 nominations

Cast

Queen Latifah	...	Georgia Byrd
LL Cool J	...	Sean Matthews
Timothy Hutton	...	Matthew Kragen
Giancarlo Esposito	...	Senator Dillings
Alicia Witt	...	Ms. Burns
Gérard Depardieu	...	Chef Didier
Jane Adams	...	Rochelle
Michael Estime	...	Marlon (as Mike Estime)
Susan Kellermann	...	Gunther
Jascha Washington	...	Darius
Matt Ross	...	Adamian
Ranjit Chowdhry	...	Dr. Gupta
Michael Nouri	...	Congressman Stewart
Jaqueline Fleming	...	Tanya
Kendall Mosby	...	Anton

MPAA:

Rated PG-13 for some sexual reference.

Runtime:

112 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English | French

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital | DTS

Certification:

UK:12A | Ireland:PG | Netherlands:MG6 | France:U | Brazil:12 | Malaysia:U | Australia:PG | Argentina:13 | Sweden:Btl | Singapore:PG | Canada:PG (Ontario) | USA:PG-13 (certificate #41977) | South Korea:12

Filming Locations:

Austria

Company:

Last Holiday Productions

Trivia:

The writers of this film are big fans of Ealing Studios comedies, and jumped at the chance to remake the original Alec Guinness film, Last Holiday (1950). Originally they intended for John Candy to play George Bird, but the project was shelved after Candy's death. It was resurrected years later when Queen Latifah's agent read the script, and contacted the writers about rewriting the story for a woman in the lead.

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: Even though it's supposed to be cold outside, none of the characters ever have steam coming out of their mouths when they breathe.

Quotes:

Georgia Byrd: Don't that ceiling ever just make you want to cry?
[smiles]
Marie: I've never noticed Madam.

Movie Connections:

Featured in "Family Guy: Airport '07 (#5.12)" (2007)

Soundtrack:

Rich Girl

Worth a Look

Queen Latifah play Georgina Byrd, a New Orleans saleswoman who learns that she only has a few weeks to live, so she decides to use her remaining time to take a dream vacation to a European resort. Once there, she starts taking on all sorts of risks and challenges because she really has nothing to lose.

Last Holiday is clearly not an Oscar worthy film but it is an enjoyable one and one that's hard to hate. The premise is pretty depressing yet optimistic at the same time. Georgia is a hardworking, quiet and hopeful girl. In the beginning of the movie, she lives a dull existence until she hits her head and finds out she is going to die in two weeks. After this, she decides to live life to the fullest. She doesn't want to be scared of the world anymore. For her final two weeks, she decides to fly to a fancy hotel in Prague she has always dream of going to. This raises the question if you need to have a lot of money to really live life to the fullest. It seems a little too much for me but everyone would want to spend their last two weeks differently. For those expecting a movie like the original, forget it. The original had an effective twist at the end and it was more social commentary than escapist humor. This version is more escapist humor but that doesn't mean it's a bad movie just not as effective as the original.

What really makes Last Holiday something is Queen Latifah. She offers a dazzling and enjoyable performance as Georgia. Her character is really hard to hate as well. LL Cool J plays Sean and he likes Georgia but he is kind of afraid to make a move. LL Cool J's performance is actually a little weak so it's a good thing that he didn't get a lot of screen time. Tim Hutton was pretty good as the bad guy. Alicia Witt was okay, a little bland though. There were some other supporting characters that were funny like Susan Kellerman as Gunther.

Despite the film's good nature and warm feelings, it was still too cheesy at times. Apparently, everyone at the hotel is living an uneventful life. However, just watching Queen Latifah have fun is enough for them to change their own lifestyles. I thought it was a little cheesy that she was able to touch everyone at the hotel. I also didn't like the fact that Wayne Wang kept the film too safe. His vanilla like directing prevented the movie from really breaking out. The screenplay was okay just not very original and kind of generic. In fact, if Queen Latifah were not present then the whole film would have been forgettable. Last Holiday proves she is an effective actress when given the right material. In the end, this warm, good spirited movie is worth checking out if you like Queen Latifah. Rating 6/10