Last Holiday Review
by Jerry Saravia (faustus_08520 AT yahoo DOT com)January 23rd, 2006
LAST HOLIDAY (2006)
Reviewed by Jerry Saravia
Viewed on January 16th, 2006
RATING: Three stars
The joy of a movie like "Last Holiday" is not so much its
ideas but the charisma of its central leading star. Thanks
to Queen Latifah, a boisterous, charming actress who is
given one of those roles that Whoopi Goldberg only hopes
to get, she makes the movie her own with class and gusto.
Now, I will admit that I have not seen many of Latifah's movies. I remember her as the sole standout scene-stealer in the
mediocre "House Party 2." She also had a memorable role in
the electrifying "Chicago." But this movie probably suits her gifts more than I had expected.
Latifah plays a somewhat sullen sales clerk named Georgia Byrd, who works at a big chain store where she also gives cooking
lessons. She also cooks up a storm at her house for a young
boy next door, usually while watching TV cooking host du jour, Emeril. Georgia, however, chooses not to eat her cooked meals - she prefers Lean Cuisine.
One day, while admiring a co-worker (played by LL Cool J), she bumps her head and is knocked unconscious. Her doctor tells
her she has a rare terminal disease and has only 3 weeks to live, maybe less. Rather than waiting for her inevitable demise (her HMO doesn't cover the medical expense of treatment), Georgia quits her job and uses her savings for a kick-ass vacation in the Czech Republic. She stays at the Grand Hotel Pupp, located in a remote mountain top area called the Karlovy Vary. She wears swanky dresses, has a luxurious bedroom with cushy pillows,
and delights everyone in the hotel's dining room with her big appetite. She garners the attention of Chef Didier (Gerard
Depardieu), who believes that life is simply all about the use of butter.
Also in attendance at this hotel is the arrogant, competitive retail tycoon, Matthew Kragen (Timothy Hutton), who has an affinity for firing people and happens to own the chain of stores that Georgia formerly worked in. Kragen also has a mistress (Alicia Witt), who is not always nice to the staff but learns a thing or two from Georgia. In fact, all the hotel's guests and workers seem renewed in their lives with Georgia's presence. Georgia expresses her need to be open since she's been living in a box for so long (she remarks that she hopes not be buried in one).
Nothing that transpires in "Last Holiday" will come as a surprise to anyone, not even the inevitable ending. What does surprise is Queen Latifah, who exudes grace and beauty in ways that few
other actresses ever really accomplish. Oddly, she makes such a predictable, cliched story (previously made with the same title in 1950) seem new and inspired. Latifah has a touching scene where she confesses her past fears and regrets and finds that she has been repressing the joy of life for far too long. This is her moment of shining glory before exiting this world and she will live every moment to its fullest.
Most of the movie's characters are not half as interesting. Timothy Hutton is too good an actor to play a one-dimensional, cold-hearted weasel. Alicia Witt could have been used better, and reliable pros like Michael Nouri and Giancarlo Esposito merely show up as
window dressing. Had this movie been made outside the Hollywood system, all the supporting characters would've been more colorfully drawn and carried some weight. A good example is the delectable wit and pathos of something like "Bread and Tulips," which also dealt with a woman feeling a similar sense of renewal on life.
"Last Holiday" has an ending that tries too neatly to wrap up everything, and more amplified scenes with LL Cool J wouldn't have hurt. Still, this is Queen Latifah's show all the way, expressing Georgia's joy with no apologies or restraint. And I'd love to visit that accommodating Grand Hotel Pupp as well.
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