Last Holiday

There are no surprises of any sort in Last Holiday. None. From the moment one meets the characters and knows the premise, it’s possible to predict nearly every scene that will follow.

But it doesn’t matter.

Here’s the thing about formula: Formulas exist because when they work, they WORK. And Last Holiday works as few comedies of the last five years have. It’s warm, sweet and genuinely funny, with solid performances in roles that, in countless other films and TV shows, have been flat and just awful.

Even the rating is old-fashioned: Queen Latifah’s Georgia Byrd not only doesn’t swear, she won’t stand for it and stops everyone around her from doing it. (Although the s-word does show up in a deleted scene on the disc.) This treat of a comedy is family friendly on top of everything else. Talk about something else that shouldn’t work in a movie, but does anyway.

Strongly recommended for fans of Queen Latifah, LL Cool J, the too-rarely-seen Alicia Witt or just warm-hearted comedies in general.

2 Comments »

1. This was produced by Noel’s nephew. Finally a movie that got lots of advertising and is known.

   Comment by Mom — May 20, 2006 @ 18:50

2. And no bargain-basement man-eating dinosaurs, either. Well, other than Gérard Depardieu.

   Comment by Beau — May 20, 2006 @ 19:36

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