|
"The Holiday" goes for the heart, but doesn't |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Written by Colin Covert, McClatchy-Tribune
|
|
Saturday, 09 December 2006 |
|
|
|
|
‘The Holiday’
2 out of 4
Cameron Diaz, Kate Winslet, Jude Law, Jack Black
PG-13 / 2 hrs. 16 mins./ Carmike 10, Cinemark 16, Metrolux 14
Rarely does a film work so hard at being yummy-licious as “The Holiday.” s long, it is relentlessly overstuffed with romantic contrivances, gilded displays of consumer good and glam costume changes calculated to hypnotize the Candace Bushnell demographic.
The gleamingly photographed stars (including Jack Black, Edward Burns, Cameron Diaz, Jude Law, Rufus Sewell and Kate Winslet) operate in good-cheer overdrive. The effect is like being served extra-sweet cocoa in a mug the size of an ice cream tub. It is to gag.
Writer/director Nancy Meyers (“What Women Want”) designed her new, but not novel, film around the storybook tale of the city mouse and the country mouse. Londoner Winslet is a shy violet journalist in love with Sewell, a bounder. L.A.’s Diaz is a locomotive film editor too consumed by career to commit to anyone. Each is longing for a change of scenery, quickly achieved when Diaz finds Winslet’s rural cottage on a home-exchange Web site.
They swap houses for two weeks, Winslet swooning with joy at the materialistic splendor of Diaz’s mansion, and Diaz charmed by the Beatrix Potter coziness of Winslet’s little nest. Neither woman wants any romantic complications during their getaway. Naturally, suitable suitors arrive on their doorsteps instantly.
Despite Meyers’ affection for the old masters, she hasn’t learned nearly enough from them. “The Holiday” has the materialist airhead brightness of a Christmas department store window, with handsomely outfitted mannequins arranged around an artificial fire. It’s glamorous and sentimental but it doesn’t touch the heart. | Only registered users can write comments.
Please login or register. |
|
|  | "Humankind cannot gain anything without first giving something in return. To obtain, something of equal value must be lost. That is Alchemy's first law of Equivalent Exchange. In those days, we really believed that to be the world's one, and only truth." | |
|  | We're not that bright, even though in our own little world, we're geniuses. We like 80s hair bands and one-hit wonders, but among us we have respectable tastes, too. Metallica, Iron Maiden, U2. Pursuit of all things trivial is a lifestyle, not just a game. We like some sports, love other sports, and can find something to say about anything. We watch TV and movies and we've read a book or two, even a few classics (Yes, Classic Comics count!)
We call it insight, you call it what you will. | |
|  | Felix Wong is an outdoor enthusiast living in Fort Collins. A mechanical engineer by day, he is especially passionate about bicycling, running, and backpacking. | |
|  | Hola Amigos! I'm Sandra. I like to believe that people are 70 percent good and 30 percent dumb. I'm stickin to that story. Reading this blog might make you want to be good, but probably just dumb. | |
|  | Donovan Henderson is editor of NEXTnc. | |
|  | Here at Nextnc we have some characters. Get a sneak peak behind the curtain and find out what amusing antics our staffers get themselves into on a weekly basis. | |
|  | What is up FoCo?
I am a recent college graduate of Minnesota State University Moorhead. After recieving my B.A. in English and Mass Communications this past August I moved down to Colorado.
I enjoy long walks on the beach, candlelight dinners, and heavy metal. My hobbies include reading and writing, music, movies, and getting drunk. Some of my favorite contemporary authors include Bret Easton Ellis, Chuck Palahniuk, and Kurt Vonnegut. My top movies are anything directed by Kubrick. I enjoy listening to anything that rocks.
Right now I am just trying to get to know Colorado and FoCo better. Mostly in order to find the best drink specials on each day that ends in Y. So if you know where I can get a cheap drunk on, let me know!
--Drew | |
|  | Life's little morsels of inspiration, observation and encouragement seen through the eyes of the Nextnc reporter.
| |
|  | Ms. Giles currently lives in Colorado where she stars in her own private reality show. She writes aphoristic accounts of her life, taken completely out of context, and embellished with characters and situations disguised to resemble something close to interesting. | |
|  | over and out | |
| | My name is Michelle Turley and I'm 28 years old. I live in Severance with my hubbie, Brandon. We have 2 dogs and a cat. We enjoy camping, four-wheeling, and just being in the mountains. I like to cook, clean (go figure), flea market, and play poker. I have so much to say about poker... | |
|
|
