The Holiday (Vacaciones)

(Synopsis) Two beautiful women, Amanda Woods (Cameron Diaz) and Iris Simpkins (Kate Winslet) both find themselves at the end of failed relationships just before Christmas. Amanda decides to take a two week vacation and surfs the internet. She meets Iris online, and they agree to swap their homes for the holidays. Amanda lives in Los Angles and Iris lives in the countryside of Surrey, England. Even though they now have a change of scenery and want no contact with men, they are both still depressed and lonely. But things are about to change when Iris' brother Graham (Jude Law) drops by Iris' house and meets Amanda. On the other side of the world, Iris meets Miles (Jack Black) a film composer. Romance is in the air and sparks are about to fly.

(My Comment) If you want to see a romantic comedy with real chemistry, especially between Cameron Diaz and Jude Law this is one chick flick you must see. This movie is a good date movie that is actually entertaining and sweet. You are actually seeing two love stories instead of one. There is a great subplot of the friendship between Kate Winslet and Eli Wallach's character that will touch your heart. Actually, I enjoyed that part of the movie the best. Overall, the movie was enjoyable to watch with touching and funny scenes throughout the movie. The ending is predictable, but what do you expect, it is a romantic comedy. You will leave the movie feeling good, and isn't that what movies are all about. (Columbia Pictures, Run time 2:18, Rated PG-13)(8/10)

There are some romantic comedies that I don't like, but The Holiday is an exception. I found it sweet and very entertaining at times. The four stars, Cameron Diaz, Kate Winslet, Jude Law and Jack Black are very talented actors, and their performances take centre stage here. Kate Winslet was lovely as Iris, but I was really delighted with Cameron Diaz as Amanda, especially when she is seen wearing stilettos in the snow. At my first viewing the whole cinema were like "How does she do that?" I also thought their exchange on the phone was hilarious too. As the men, I really liked Jack Black as Miles, a perfect blend of subtlety and spirit. Jude Law, an actor who isn't always my cup of tea, does very well indeed, as Diaz's new friend Graham. This tells the story of two women who swap homes and make lifelong friends, or something along the lines of that. My sister has this on DVD and absolutely loves it. I have only two quibbles with this movie, the script is a little weak and frothy at times, and there are some places where the story is underdeveloped. Still a beautiful-looking and hugely enjoyable film. 8/10 Bethany Cox

This somewhat odd but distinctly likable film involves two women, one in L.A. and one in London, both unhappy in love, who switch homes to shake up their lives.

The movie is often funny and sometimes touching, with solid performances from all. Perhaps the biggest issue is the absence of chemistry between Kate Winslet and Jack Black, which gives the movie a false note that could have been avoided if it wasn't so determined to follow the standard romantic comedy path. Winslet has much better chemistry with Eli Wallach, wonderful as an aged scriptwriter.

One interesting thing to note is Jude Law, whose handsome, empathetic, nurturing, understanding character could best be described as lady porn, plays the sort of role usually played by a woman: the perfect person, wonderful in every way, whose main role in the story is to allow the main character to transition to a new phase in their life.

It's not a great movie, and I don't love the structure, which simply involves cutting back and forth between two unrelated stories, but it's a nice feel-good chick flick thing that is perfect for days you don't want your brain to work too hard.

While this movie is not going to be a masterpiece and held up in the future as an example of "great" film making, it was, in my opinion, a well made, albeit predictable, movie.

I did appreciate the storyline was a bit of a formula, but it had enough in the sub plots to keep me interested all the way through.

I got what I expected and a little more from the lead characters, but was a little disappointed in the performance of Jack Black. I am a fan of Jack, but am seeing a lot of the same from him in his facial contortions. Even so the character was "lovable"! The real surprise for me was the whole "Arthur Abbott" (Eli Wallach) sub plot. It was delightful and saved the show from the malaise that plagues the romantic comedy, that being predictability.

I am not a romantic comedy type of guy, yet I was sucked into this movie well and truly.

As I left, I felt like I had been treated as a human being. I had not been assaulted by the violence, overt sexual references, gunfire and the explosions that seem to be everywhere. (Not that I don't like a good "shoot the baddies" or "indecent suggestive action" type of movie).

This was just good clean "fun"! And I would see it again (next year maybe!)

I think this film deserves a better rating than the current 6.9 on IMDb. I to expected it to be just like other rom com's but it was much better than i expected and very enjoyable.

The story starts with Amanda (Cameron Diaz) and Iris (Kate Winslet) fed up with their love lives; Amanda's boyfriend has been cheating on her and the man Iris loves has just got engaged to someone else. They both decide to switch houses for Christmas for an escape from their complicated lives; so Iris jets off to Amanda's place in sunny L.A and Amanda goes to Iris' quaint cottage in snowy Surrey, England (if only it really did snow at Christmas!) Amanda soon meets Iris' handsome brother Graham (Brilliantly played by Jude Law) and Iris meets musician Miles (Jack Black) and you can guess the rest...

The acting is strong and well handled. At first i found Cameron Diaz hugely annoying but as it went on i warmed to her character; she and Jude had lots of chemistry and their relationship was handled well and Graham's secret was a good twist.

I thought Jack Black was great in this different role, he and Kate also had chemistry and he was totally believable. I wish their storyline had been a bit longer though as they spent way more time on Cameron and Jude's part.

Kate Winslet as usual was funny and touching as Iris and maybe one of the best parts of the film was her relationship with the old man (Eli Wallach) they both seemed to have a connection and it was nice to hear his stories of when he was a writer in the good old Hollywood days when he knew Cary Grant and co! If you want beautiful scenery, escapism from the millions of horror and action films out there and good characterisation, than this is for you. It's not as soppy as other rom/com's and it's easy to identify with the characters, it's also very festive and my dad even liked it and he hates romantic films!