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Last Holiday (2006)
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Reviews Counted:112
Fresh:61
Rotten:51
Average Rating:5.8/10
Consensus: Although Queen Latifah's bountiful life-affirming spirit permeates the film, director Wayne Wang is unable to revive this remake with any real flair.
Theatrical Release:Jan 13, 2006 Wide
Box Office: $38,360,195
Synopsis: Queen Latifah is absolutely delightful in Wayne Wang's romantic comedy, LAST HOLIDAY. Latifah stars as Georgia Byrd, a reserved plus-sized woman who lives a dreary, ordinary life in pre-Katrina New... Queen Latifah is absolutely delightful in Wayne Wang's romantic comedy, LAST HOLIDAY. Latifah stars as Georgia Byrd, a reserved plus-sized woman who lives a dreary, ordinary life in pre-Katrina New Orleans, where she dreams of an elegant existence filled with fancy food, stylish clothing, and high-society parties. But she spends most of her evenings eating frozen dinners all alone, often thinking about a shy coworker (LL Cool J) she has a crush on. When she is suddenly diagnosed with a terminal illness and given three weeks to live, she collects her savings and decides to go crazy, doing all those things she would never allow herself to do before. She heads for one of the world's ritziest hotels, the Grand Hotel Pupp in Karlovy Vary in the Czech Republic, where she takes advantage of every luxury she can, from spa treatments to downhill ski runs to helicopter trips to designer shopping excursions. While her lavish appetite is admired by a gourmet chef (Gerard Depardieu, showing agile comic skill), she is deemed a potential threat by a corporate bigwig (a slick Timothy Hutton). She's also none too happy to find her too-smooth senator (Giancarlo Esposito) enjoying a lush vacation instead of serving his community. Latifah simply lights up the screen in a somewhat different version of the role played by Alec Guinness in Henry Cass's 1950 original. This version of LAST HOLIDAY has been updated with a playful pop soundtrack, Geoffrey Simpson's beautiful photography, William Arnold's bright and colorful production design, and an enjoyable, lighthearted pace from director Wang (DIM SUM, THE JOY LUCK CLUB, and MAID IN MANHATTAN). [More]
Starring: Queen Latifah, LL Cool J, Timothy Hutton, Gerard Depardieu
Starring: Queen Latifah, LL Cool J, Timothy Hutton, Gerard Depardieu, Alicia Witt, Giancarlo Esposito, Michael Nouri, Jane Adams
Director: Wayne Wang
Director: Wayne Wang
Screenwriter: Jeffrey Price, Peter S. Seaman
Producer: Robert Zemeckis, Steve Starkey, Richard Vane, Laurence Mark, Jack Rapke
Composer: George Fenton
Producer: Peter S. Seaman, Jeffrey Price
Studio: Paramount Pictures
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Release:
Dec 30, 2008
Reviews for Last Holiday
A mild, fangless, forgettable thing that entertains some and offends little, barring one obnoxious subcontinental stereotype and a cloying urge to make everybody chipper at the end.
Money can buy you happiness in this inferior remake — although its makeover storyline may please fans of The Princess Diaries et al.
Wayne Wang directs the film as if he gets an extra commission for each Latifah reaction shot.
Holiday certainly is harmless entertainment, but considering the pedigree of the talent here, the final product is more than a little disappointing.
If you had three weeks left to live, I wouldn't recommend you spend your precious time watching this.
While there is something undeniably enjoyable about watching someone likable enjoy themselves, it's not enough to make a good movie.
The Queen is in fine form, but this particular throne is a bit rickety.
The film quite misses the point of casting LL Cool J as romantic object: he's only visible some 20 minutes total.
Instead of deft comedy with a depth charge of feeling, we have now a contraption festooned with cute sparkles and tiny heart grabs.
The most fatal pitfall is a purely Hollywood ending that would be enraging if it wasn't such an obvious foregone conclusion.
The gifted and charming Latifah deserves a better role than the bunch of cliche's she's asked to propogate about the wonders of American consumerism in this fluffy and inconsequential remake of the far superior 1950 Alec Guinness comedy.
The movie completely falls apart. It doesn't make any sense, any of it.
...and while the terrific cast has managed to wrestle a less-than-average script to the ground, it's still rather rank.
Traps a nice character and a lovely performance in a morass of stupid contrivances and useless complications.
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July 07, 2006:
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January 17, 2006:
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