Last year there weren’t a whole lot of films that I was interested in seeing theatrically, but I do remember seeing the trailer for The Holiday and actually being intrigued. The cast is made up of actors I’m fond of, and the story looked sweet. Ultimately though, I forgot all about seeing it in theatres for a number of reasons and excuses. Most notably, I tend to forget about romantic comedies until the DVD release, and having recently ended a relationship didn’t help get me in the mood for romantic films either. Therefore, I was much more attracted to rewatching stuff like Black Christmas or Christmas Evil, and drinking… and smoking… and digressing. 

Anyhow, when I saw The Holiday added to the release schedule, I jumped to accept the offer to review it, because although I’m still drinking and smoking, I’m much less bitter about it. 

If Trading Spaces were made into a romantic comedy from its reality show roots, you would get The Holiday. Here we are treated to the story of two unlucky-in-love women. Amanda (Cameron Diaz, Charlie’s Angels) has a highly successful career cutting film trailers, but recently found out that her boyfriend Ethan (Edward Burns, Sidewalks Of New York), whom she admittedly never sees, has been cheating on her. Meanwhile in England, Iris (Kate Winslet, Finding Neverland) has been the continuous “other woman” in the life of her writer ex-boyfriend Jasper (Rufus Sewell, The Illusionist) whose work she still edits. Both women, distraught with their situations, end up meeting online at a home exchange website. They do this for several weeks just to get away from it all – specifically men. 

Once displaced to the UK, Amanda is visited by the quite drunken Graham (Jude Law, Sky Captain And The World Of Tomorrow). Graham is Iris’ brother who had no idea she had exchanged homes. Amanda, fresh off her break-up, and Graham, drunkenly sweet and charming in a way that only Cary Grant or Dean Martin could have pulled off, bed each other the first night, and then learn about each other over the following weeks. In Los Angeles, Iris is visited by Miles (Jack Black), Amanda’s film composer friend, and meets Amanda’s neighbor Arthur Abbott (Eli Wallach, King Of The Corner – and a slew of great movies), an aging screenwriter in need of some friendship. 

Two “meet cutes” for the price of one? You betcha! And on the off-chance that you don’t know what a “meet cute” means, fear not. The Holiday will explain. In fact, that’s one of the strongest things about the film. With half the film set in California, the film industry actually comes into the screenplay quite a bit. Amanda constantly views her life in snippets, often imagining herself in film trailers. A corny device to be sure, but they are still amusing since it fits her character, and are even narrated by Hal Douglas (“In a world…” guy). Eli Wallach couldn’t be any more charming as the aging Hollywood writer. Hearing his character reminisce about the old Tinsletown era is entirely convincing and the friendship that blooms between him, Iris and Miles really moves their half of the film.  

The Holiday really goes out of its way to get the viewer to respect the characters. All of the main characters are presented positively so that Amanda and Graham’s sex-on-the-first-not-even-a-date is as acceptable as Iris and Miles’ sexless introduction. And while the writing is otherwise average romcom fare, the ending is well done and at the right point in time. This makes it so the film’s audience can predict their own outcome as to where the two new relationships will go. Between the cast and the script, I think The Holiday makes up for its lesser flaws, like the fact the film runs a shade too long and the direction is unspectacular. To be fair, the direction is no worse than most films in this genre, but you can only have so many over-the-shoulder shots before I feel more like I am eavesdropping than settling into the film. 

The real hero of the film that sells this package as a whole is the score. Composed by Hans Zimmer, there are themes for all of the characters as well as different love themes based on the duality of the situations. Every bit of it is excellent, so much so that I immediately bought the CD off of Amazon.com after watching the film.  

Not everyone is going to like the film, and many people probably wouldn’t give it a chance at all. I’m sure that fans of the genre will eat it up with a spoon, but I would gleefully recommend it to anyone even remotely interested. The Holiday has raised the bar that modern romance films should reach for. 

The DVD Presentation
Once again Sony releases a great DVD. The video is as good as a film only recently made can be. It’s very crisp and there isn’t a single blemish or compression artifact that I could find. The audio mix is 5.1 surround, and while there is nothing here that really makes the film immersive (it’s no action film) it does sound clear and it emphasizes the wonderful score. There is also a French 5.1 mix and subtitles are available in English, French and Spanish for those that require them. All things considered, The Holiday has a stellar presentation. 

And the Extras Are?
Audio Commentary with Nancy Meyers and Guests
Writer and director Nancy Meyers is met with composer Hans Zimmer, production designer Jon Hutman and editor Joe Hutshing. Nancy drives the discussion, really only referring to the other participants when she wants their input. However, it is lively conversation that covers almost every angle of production. Nancy Meyers definitely has a lot to say about her movie. 

Foreign Exchange: The Making of The Holiday – (18:02)
Part traditional EPK material, and part earnest commentary from the cast about how they reacted to different scenes. This “making of” covers the all the angles from the writing to the set design and remains interesting throughout. Not the most revealing featurette I’ve ever seen, but it’s a satisfactory companion to the feature. 

Trailer Gallery
And finally we have a trailer of a bunch of other films released (or being released) by Sony. These include Spider-Man 3, Are We Done Yet?, Across The Universe, Catch And Release, The Pursuit Of Happyness, Stranger Than Fiction, Casino Royale, Marie Antoinette, The Natural – Director’s Cut and Spider-Man 2.1. Sadly, there is no trailer for The Holiday. 

While it certainly isn’t the most feature-packed DVD, for this type of film it’s really all that’s needed. The commentary answered whatever few questions that I had and the featurette covered the actors’ thoughts. It’s a satisfying package, especially when matched with the presentation quality. 

The Bottom Line
Perhaps overstaying its welcome due to its length, The Holiday is otherwise a top quality romantic comedy that has an entertaining cast and a beautiful score. Fans of the genre won’t find much new, but they will find a better than average story with a more open ending. It isn’t a technical marvel; it isn’t an effects bonanza; it’s a good charming flick. I definitely recommend it.