Review: The Holiday

UK release date: 8th December

Cameron Diaz and Kate Winslet headline this romantic comedy for the festive season. Watching it is like unwrapping an attractively packed gift only to discover it’s socks again.

Writer/director Nancy Meyers should have observed the advice of her previous film, Something’s Gotta Give, and let a few scenes go. She spends far too much time lingering on humdrum episodes such as Diaz and Winslet emailing each other to arrange a house swap for the holidays. They’re both fleeing the fallout of broken relationships, but inevitably hopping across the pond leads both of them to unexpected romance.

Diaz and Jude Law make a fairly engaging couple, although sadly the early stages of their relationship are clumsily knitted together, while Winslet and Jack Black remain an awkward pairing throughout. But the film’s funny moments are as thinly scattered as the English snow, which mysteriously keeps appearing and disappearing throughout the movie.

Radio Times rating:

**

UK cinema certificate 12A
Running time 135mins

Review by Stella Papamichael

News: Jude Law

Law, with us again in this week’s The Holiday, has been churning movies out like nobody’s business, so to catch up on all his latest news, check out this earlier post.

News: Jack Black

Like his The Holiday co-stars Kate Winslet and Jude Law, Jack Black’s also had a fair few films out recently, so his latest news can be found here.

News: Cameron Diaz

In news bound to disappoint red blooded males movie fans worldwide, this week’s The Holiday looks to be the last time we’ll see Cameron Diaz on screen for quite a while. Though she’ll still be voicing Princess Fiona in Shrek the Third, due in June 2007, she has recently announced that she’ll be taking a break from the movies – for how long remains unclear.

News: Kate Winslet

Winslet, in cinemas again this week in The Holiday, seems to have a new film out all the time these days, so all her news has already been covered.