The Holiday
When we see movies with stars/actors we admire and enjoy in them, can we separate our feelings for them from the character they’re playing? The same question can be posed about stars/actors we’re not as fond about. How can it not effect our judgement on the movies we watch?
“The Holiday,” the latest romantic comedy from writer-director Nancy Myers (“What Women Want,” “Something’s Gotta Give”)- posed both questions to me in its’ story of two women- one a trailer editor in L.A., the other a wedding announcement writer in Surry, England- who get away from bad relationships by exchanging houses, cars, everything for two weeks during the holiday season. After “What Women Want” and “Something’s Gotta Give,” you can tell that Myers (who also did the “Parent Trap” remake with Lindsay Lohan) enjoys crafting romantic comedies that follow the conventions of the genre while also playing against them in their premise, and so it is with “The Holiday” as well. As always, her success boils down to her casting.
As Amanda, the trailer editor from L.A., she casts Cameron Diaz, who started off as the bombshell in the Jim Carrey comedy “The Mask” before hitting it big in starring roles for smashes like “There’s Something About Mary” and “Charlie’s Angels.” Personally, I’ve never found her to be all that. Her beauty is undeniable, and she’s got some comedic sense, but she’s never really appealed to me as a leading lady. That might explain why I was less-then enthralled by Amanda’s storyline…at least at the start. Then again, the character herself isn’t terribly appealing at the start actually. We’re introduced to her character through the scene in all the previews of her throwing Ed Burns’ character out after he admits to having slept with another woman. But the catch to the full scene is that the admission comes after about 20-30 repetitions of the question on Amanda’s part, which Burns’ character answers everytime- but the last time- that he didn’t sleep with her. True, he may have slept with her really, but the way the scene plays out, one gets the idea that Amanda’s mind is already made up, and that Burns’ character just admits to the affair to get her off his case and asking about it. He’s goaded into the answer Amanda wants to hear, even if he knows its’ not true. Personally, not the best way for Myers to set up one of her main characters, because immediately I didn’t feel much sympathy for her dilemma, which felt more of her own making the way it plays out.
It does stand in contrast with the story of Iris, the British newspaper writer played by Kate Winslet. True, her situation is of her own making as well, but it’s also a situation where she is very much the victim of a manipulative man. That would be Rufus Sewell’s Jasper, who works at the same paper Iris does. They started a relationship three years ago while Jasper was in a serious one with a fellow paper worker. Iris can’t compell herself to stop loving Jasper, though; that’s partly because Jasper makes it appear as though he needs Iris in his life, both professionally and as a shag buddy. But Jasper’s never hidden the other relationship from Iris- she’s just kind of accepted it as the status quo. But the shag part of the relationship is over and they’ve remained friends. But at the paper’s Christmas party, there’s apparently one thing he failed to confide in her- his engagement to the other woman at the paper. As the writer of wedding announcements for the paper, it feels like a cruel joke played on her to see how far down her emotions can get. She goes home that night and cries…and gets the email from Amanda about the swap.
Winslet is one of the best actresses- if not the best- of her generation. By 30, she had 4 Oscar nominees; no one since Brando had been so honored so quickly, even if she’s yet to win. But it’s not the honors that have appealed me to her. She is the embodiment of the contemporary, confident woman (even when she’s in one of her many period roles- see “Titanic,” “Sense and Sensibility,” “Finding Neverland”)- comfortable in her own skin (though the press has hounded her about her weight in the past, her many nude scenes in films from “Titanic” to this year’s “Little Children” are proof to the contrary; she’s just fine in that department), with a street-smart head on her shoulders about how the world works. She’s also an irrepressible charmer, as she proved definitively in her Oscar-nominated turn in 2004’s “Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind” as a free spirited woman who may have erased Jim Carrey’s ex-boyfriend from her memory, but discovers- by the end- she couldn’t erase her love of him from her heart in the inspired and imaginative love story by Charlie Kaufman and Michel Gondry. She’s always had a keen eye for smart material, and it doesn’t disappoint in her playing of Iris in “The Holiday.” We immediately feel a sympathetic bond with the character that doesn’t feel forced or engineered. Like I said, Myers knows that the success of her stories comes from her casting, and in getting Winslet for the role of Iris, you feel like no one else could have played the part better.
The same can be said for Diaz, whose performance here is perhaps her most endearing to date. Once Amanda hops the pond to England, I warmed myself to the character as she starts to get involved with Graham, played by Jude Law. Of the two stories, this is the better example of Myers’ talent for subverting audience expectations while staying within the boundaries of romantic comedy. Not surprisingly, Graham is set up as a heartbreaker, and probably the local playboy, who likely goes from woman to woman and doesn’t really look for a commitment. But Graham’s not as superficial as he may seem at first, and there’s a pretty good reason Graham has trouble commiting. The twist Myers gives the character is unexpected, and makes our initial perceptions turn on their heads. It also gives way to a change in Amanda that gives us an idea of who she really is; we get the idea that the woman we saw in L.A. is simply a product of her environment, having to adapt in order to survive in the biz, as it were. Graham- a book editor and Iris’ brother- is deftly setup as a fling for the high-strung Amanda, but from the get go you can almost sent that both want something more, and the appealing performances by both (Law’s kind of awkward playing awkward at first, but one he and Diaz’s Amanda get more accustomed to each other, both actors are wonderfully loose with their acting) make it a treat to watch these two fall for each other.
That said, I still found Iris’ story to be the stabilizing arc of the film. We don’t see a change in Iris- except in her attitude towards Jasper and his manipulation- because, well, she stays fundamentally the same person from the time we meet her to the time the credits role. But she has changed in the end, helped along by the change of environment and, of course, the people she meets along the way. Not just Jack Black’s Miles (who I’ll get to), but also Arthur Abbott, a famous, retired screenwriter played by Eli Wallach (I couldn’t help but love this role and its’ place in the story, and Wallach- perhaps best known for his role in “The Good, the Bad and the Ugly,” but also well-remembered by me for his role in “Keeping the Faith”- couldn’t be better in the role, though I was disappointed with his absense from the story at the end) who is using a walker, and self-conscious about the idea of the Writers Guild honoring him for his work. Living next door to Iris, they “meet cute” when she sees him walking along the road, and form a bond as Iris is recommended classic movies featuring women not dislike her by Arthur and he tells her about his life, while Iris goats him into accepting the Writers Guild’s offer of a tribute (personally, a satisfying scene) and helps him prepare.
There’s a wonderful connection between the characters that brings a little more depth to Iris’ side of the story than there is in Amanda’s, but it works because it also dovetails into Iris’ relationship with Miles, the film composer played by Jack Black. Admittedly, this was the main reason I wanted to see this movie; the idea of a guy like Black with a girl like Winslet- two seemingly opposite personalities (plus, only in the movies could a guy like Black get a girl like Winslet, one immediately thinks)- building an unexpected friendship. (And I didn’t know of Miles’ film composing career until friends started seeing the film.) Black and Winslet have an easy chemistry- not surprising with Winslet, as she’s clicked with actors as varied as Leonardo DiCaprio, Johnny Depp, and Jim Carrey. But Black is her equal; he’s been funnier (see “High Fidelity” and “School of Rock”), but he’s never been more engaging as an actor (no, not even in “King Kong”)- this is probably his most well-rounded performance to date, and arguably his best. His passion for his craft- that geeky buzz that inhabits me to my core- was palpable as Miles and Iris are in the video store and he’s pointing out films and talking about the scores (allowing Myers to get a shout-out in to composer Hans Zimmer, who wrote the film’s score), and his desire to help Iris bust out of her shell, and put the past behind her…I know where he’s coming from. But when his own relationship ends over the course of his bonding with Iris, we see a side of Black we’re not used to; he really felt vulnerable, and we see the same type of manipulation in his girlfriend that is so obvious in Jasper. That we get to see both of them let go of their lovers- who are actually more desparate than they are…it’s a good sight to see, and it makes “The Holiday” more than a usual holiday romantic comedy. It’s a sweet ode to finding your true soulmate, even if it’s the last place you look. Maybe I’m making too much about the movie, but these reviews are ultimately about how the movie hit me as a viewer. Well, this one hit me right in the heart. I’ve seen better movies, but for a hopeless romantic with a hopeful soul, it doesn’t get any better than this.
