Movie #29 - The Holiday

"Two women troubled with guy-problems swap homes in each other's countries, where they each meet a guy and fall in love."

Nancy Meyers wrote and directed this nice little romantic comedy that follows two characters: Amanda Woods (Cameron Diaz) and Iris Simpkins (Kate Winslet) as both characters decide to switch homes to get away from their troubled love lives.

The premise: Diaz is a Hollywood movie trailer writer and Winslet is a British magazine columnist. Both women are having troubles with the men in their lives and find each other on the Internet on a home exchange website. On a whim, both women decide to spend Christmas vacation in each other's homes.

Yes. The wonders of the Internet are expressed here. Although I would never recommend doing this in real life, its fun to see how Hollywood would first portray this little exchange.

Little do Diaz and Winslet know is that love is around the corner... compliments of writer and director Meyers. Known in Hollywood for her wonderful scripts and funny movies on the whole such as the Father of the Bride franchise, Something's Gotta Give, and What Women Want, Meyers really knows how to write, direct, or produce a movie. She gets the best out of her actors and actresses and knows how to weave a love story together ala Nora Ephron.

What is questionable in this film is the casting of Jack Black. Jude Law is cast as the potential love interest for Cameron Diaz while on the flip side, Kate Winslet gets Jack Black. No offense to the comedic side of Black, but in my opinion, a better casting could've been done on that side of things. Black seems out of place in this role and the romantic comedy thing does not work at all for his typical Nacho Libre-esque roles.

Overall, I enjoyed this film for its witty script and fun entertainment value. I liked seeing Eli Wallach as a main character again - despite the fact it was in a romantic comedy and not in something more masculine like the Godfather III or The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly. Ah well... beggars can't be choosers.

Either way, you will enjoy this movie and what Meyers has put on screen to offer. Its definitely not her best film on her extensive resume, but it sure is a great deal better than the other romantic comedies out there.

Reference: I originally published this article on Helium.com.