#75 - Is there still a little time for me to complain about The Holiday?

Look, it’s not that I don’t like Cameron Diaz as an actor. I think she does a fine job in the seminal Christmas classic, The Holiday, a movie I actually saw in theatres on Christmas Day when I was 14 years old and blissfully unaware that I was witnessing the final gasps of one of my all-time favorite genres, and once again watched this evening.

It’s just that Cameron’s storyline of “career-obsessed [movie trailer editor] lady meets Jude Law and finally cries for the first time in fifteen years after falling in love via montages and hot sex” is not nearly compelling a story  as “jilted ex of a narcissist finally breaks free of the cycle and befriends an aging screenwriter who helps her understand that she’s a leading lady and also Jack Black is there for a sweet & light romance.” And idk, if Kate Winslet’s character’s whole thing is learning to treat herself as a Leading Lady then why the fuck is her screen time decidedly less than half??

(I literally just tried to google this information for a solid 20 minutes to confirm exactly how their screen time was split and my only other recourse is actually to time the movie while I watch it and I just can’t watch it again so soon I’m sorry!!! I’m also not trying to pit these actresses against each other in terms of who got more screentime it’s just so deeply strange to me that it’s a literal centerpiece of Kate Winslet’s growth in the film and yet it’s so clear that we spend more time in snowy England than sunny LA.) (During this googling though I did find a review that declares “only wives will like this movie” and suggests that to “save time” the characters of Arthur and Miles should be combined and I just think if you want to print such a batshit idea I demand to have more detail on how exactly you combine the 90-year-old Golden Age of Hollywood Screenwriter’s gentle friendship/life guru with Jack Black’s hapless-but-so-sweet love interest role? Like, do you call it halfsies on the age and make him a 60-something love interest who is surprisingly spritely for his age and has a ton of life lessons but hasn’t himself been able to find/keep love?? Will be thinking about this for weeks to come!)

I think that while the movie itself is generally a very easy watch (goes down like a perfectly temped mug of tea), the places it always loses me seem like an easy enough fix. Honestly, neither of the romances should make it past the mini-break these two women have taken themselves on. I like both the guys but the stems of these relationships reeeeally don’t feel strong enough to outlast the nine-hour time difference. And Jude Law has two very young kids who like definitely shouldn’t be getting attached to a new mother figure in their life—especially when we’ve spent the entire first part of the movie finding out exactly how little time Amanda’s ever dedicated to any relationship outside of her career! And while it’s great if she wants to reconfigure her priorities, it just doesn’t feel like something that should be done after spending three hours with some incredibly charming british tots who tell her that she looks like a Barbie.

(Sidenote that one of the funniest “romantic” lines in any movie ever is Jude Law saying that their relationship can never work because he’s a book editor from London and she’s a glamorous…film trailer editor in LA. But also, huge bone to pick with the love confession scene because he says he’s a “package deal” referring to the fact that he has TWO CHILDREN and then immediately says "…that package in the light of day perhaps isn’t all that wonderful,” like BRO!!!! THOSE ARE YOUR KIDS YOU’RE TALKING ABOUT!!!)

The movie is a romcom, and Nancy Meyers is an incredibly competent director, but the romances presented feel far less transformative than the power of friendship that’s displayed in the Aurther/Iris friendship storyline. It’s actually so incredible to see a woman who has been strung along by the absolute asshole (played to perfection by Rufus Sewell, who will always in my heart be the asshole from A Knight’s Tale!) finally come into her own power and forcibly remove him and his stupid writing that he wants her to edit from her life. Like, more depictions of people triumphantly leaving their abusive exes and toxic situations, please!!!! It’s so wonderful, the relief and joy is so apparent, 10/10!

I think I just want more movies about friendship and how healing it can be. Also, reading reviews for this movie from when it came out is deeply sad. “Cookie cutter chick flick” like ??? what about it is cookie cutter? I hate this idea that knowing what happens at the end ruins a story. Like, William Shakespeare did not masterfully spoil the entire plot in the prologues of his plays just so that ~spoiler culture~ could become a thing!!!! The only reason Marvel is so hellbent on people ~not knowing what’s going to happen (including the uh, actors, which definitely makes for super nuanced and informed performances) is that their movies get one shot at making any money and they need people to think it’s important to see it opening weekend lest they be ~spoiled. But like, I refuse to feel bad that Disney can’t make money on DVD sales when they’ve actually created the monster that they constantly complain about now. But also, I would very much like a major return of DVD culture because all I want for Christmas is behind-the-scenes featurettes where a costume designer takes me through the closet and shows me initial sketches. Dreamgirls (another Christmas movie theatre classic) has like an entire documentary about the clothes on that DVD and I swear it’s better than the movie.

Anyway.

Do I still enjoy The Holiday? Of course, it’s delightful and it doesn’t require nearly the amount of mental hurdles to get through as Love Actually. And there’s something about British Christmas movies that feel extra Christmassy! I just wish that Kate Winslet got more…due. She really could have been the whole movie and I would have been thrilled. Also, Bravo Gods of the Sky, I beg that someone puts Inside The Actors Studio somewhere that I can access it again. What I would give to hear the Kate Winslet/Harvey Keitel “I am a dying dog” story once more!!!!

(Update, I found it!!! Along with Robert Downey JR’s and I watched his 1994 romcom Only You the other day and while the script is…absolutely terrible, he and Marisa Tomei are so goddamn charming and so good at making out with each other that I had a delightful time watching it and now want RDJ to do more romcoms because I think between that movie and his whole arc on Ally McBeal he seems to have a ball doing it. I know he doesn’t need any more money ever again but like… he feels like someone who genuinely loves acting. Maybe I’ll watch the documentary he made about his dad’s weird film career once I’m done writing this. He is, after all/of course, a nepo baby!)

I’ve spent this Christmas with a head cold, mainlining Harney & Sons Blueberry Green tea and attempting to gua sha my sinuses into submission so that food sounds appealing at’tall! Did get to eat some Walker’s Shortbread though. So, I hope wherever you are or whenever you’re reading this, you have/had a wonderful holiday & a gentle end to 2022 🧡