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The Holiday [2006]


RRP: £19.99
Our Price: £3.22 (subject to change)

Editorial
Amazon.co.uk Review

As a pleasant dose of holiday cheer, The Holiday is a lovable love story with all the Christmas trimmings. In the capable hands of writer-director Nancy Meyers (making her first romantic comedy since Something's Gotta Give), it all begins when two successful yet unhappy women connect through a home-swapping website, and decide to trade houses for the Christmas holiday in a mutual effort to forget their man troubles. Iris (Kate Winslet) is a London-based journalist who lives in a picture-postcard cottage in Surrey, and Amanda (Cameron Diaz) owns a movie-trailer production company (leading her to cutely imagine most of her life as a "coming attraction") and lives in a posh mansion in Beverly Hills. Iris is heartbroken from unrequited love with a cad of a colleague (Rufus Sewell), and Amanda has just broken up with her cheating boyfriend (Edward Burns), so their home-swapping offers mutual downtime to reassess their love lives. This being a Nancy Meyers movie (where everything is fabulously decorated and romantic wish-fulfillment is virtually guaranteed), Amanda hooks up with Iris's charming brother Graham (Jude Law), and Iris is unexpectedly smitten with Miles (Jack Black), a super-nice film composer on the downside of a failing relationship. --Jeff Shannon

Editorial
Synopsis

Iris (Kate Winslet) is a British journalist caught in a cycle of unrequited love with her co-worker, Jasper (Rufus Sewell). Jasper does his best to lead her on, and when he announces his engagement to another woman in the office, Iris is crushed. Meanwhile, across the pond, Amanda (Cameron Diaz) is a highly-strung film trailer editor who has just ended her relationship with Ethan (Edward Burns) after he accuses her of being emotionally unavailable. And, oh yes, he has sort of been sleeping with his receptionist. Broken-hearted, Amanda and Iris make contact through a holiday website and agree to swap homes for two weeks to escape their disastrous personal lives. Iris takes off for Amanda’s lavish L.A. pad, while Amanda arrives at Iris’ picturesque cottage right outside London. When Iris’ brother Graham (Jude Law) knocks at the door one night looking for his sister, he instead encounters Amanda, and sparks soon fly--despite the fact that they both know she won't be in town for long. Iris, for her part, is busy mending her heart in sunny California, befriending Amanda’s elderly neighbour, and making the acquaintance of film composer Miles (Jack Black.) But her healing is abruptly interrupted when Jasper suddenly appears on her doorstep, having flown halfway round the world to make sure he still has her under his spell. An ocean apart, Iris and Amanda find themselves at the crux of all rom-com crises: how to follow your heart, while still being true to yourself. Fans of the genre will no doubt find Winslet's thespian charms, Law's dimples, and the high-fashion wardrobes quite enough to give them their chick-flick fix.

Great
Review date: 2008-09-05 Rating: 8 out of 10

Leant to me by a friend and had a great night in. Good feel good chick flick. Get in your PJ's girls, chocolate and wine at the ready and go for it

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Reviews


The Holiday
Review date: 2008-09-05 Rating: 6 out of 10

At first glance this film seemed to be your typical chick flick with a distinctly 'Bridget Jones' feel about it. But as soon as the house swap occurred it very quickly picked up and becomes quite an endearing story. It isn't too heavy, has some fun performances and is an easy way to spend an afternoon. Kate Winslet is great as a heartbroken journalist who befriends an old school Hollywood script writer and Diaz is good as the highly stressed new era Hollywood type who falls in love in low key English surrey. This is a fairly heart warming, innocuous afternoons viewing and although not brilliant, it is a good enough film for those lighter moments. Worth a look as long as you don't expect too much.

Predictable chick flick
Review date: 2008-08-28 Rating: 6 out of 10

Amanda Woods (Cameron Diaz) is a Hollywood trailer producer who's just gotten her heart broken; Iris Simkins (Kate Winslet) lives in England and is also at the losing end of a romance. Both ladies are miserable and decide to get away from home for Christmas. They find each other on an online house-switch site and before you can say "I know how this is going to end!" Amanda is living in a cozy English cottage and Iris is ensconced in a luxurious LA mansion. And you'll never guess what happens next. (Okay, you will guess - in about half a minute.)

Diaz, Winslet, and their co-stars Jude Law and Jack Black are all fine here, looking beautiful and clever and giving sincere performances. It's not their fault that the script is so predictable and corny with no room for WHY these new loves blossom so quickly, so blissfully, and so conveniently, considering the women are emotionally wounded and would need some time to heal. And what exactly are the odds of meeting your dream mate within hours of moving to a foreign country? Eli Wallach gives a winning performance as a doddering old scriptwriter befriended by Iris, but again, it's all too perfect; there's no question that they will become instant buddies and that their lives will both be enriched by their meeting.

If I were a woman in the 18-26 target zone, I'd probably love this movie and shed a few tears at it; as it is, I just kept thinking, "Well, there's five hours of my life I'll never get back." (What? It's only 136 minutes? Impossible! I thought it would never end.)

WOW!!!!
Review date: 2008-08-18 Rating: 10 out of 10

This has GOT to be one of my fave chick-flicks of alll time.
I love it soo much , i watched it near christmas , and it got me in the moood,since then i have watched it at least once a week.Its one of them films , you can watch over and over again.Cameron Diaz,Jack Black,Kate Winslet and Jude Law, well what else can you ask for ?
I really loved it.
5*

a great 'chick flick'
Review date: 2008-07-24 Rating: 10 out of 10

I rented this movie one night when there was nothing else on the tv to watch. I loved it so much I bought it the very next day (from Amazon of course). It's heartwarming, funny and romantic. Not sure it's one for the boys to watch, although you never know.....

Product Details/Specifications


Actor(s):
Kate Winslet
Jack Black
Jude Law
Cameron Diaz

Creators:
Cameron Diaz (Primary Contributor)
Jack Black (Primary Contributor)

Director(s):

Recording label: Universal Pictures Video
Manufacturer: Universal Pictures Video
EAN: 5050582482355
Binding: DVD
Number of items: 1
Format: PAL, Subtitled,
Release date: 2007-03-26
Aspect ratio: 1.78:1
Audience rating: Suitable for 12 years and over
Region code: 2
Running time: 130 minutes
Theatrical release date: 2006
Language: English (Original Language)
Language: Spanish (Original Language)

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