Double Feature

December 2008 - Here we are. Another holiday season upon us. Unlike holidays past, I am far behind in my shopping. So, I have no extra special gift selections to pass on. But, I will recommend one movie and try to steer you away from another. Consider that my gift to you.

The movie I recommend is The Holiday. Kate Winslet and Cameron Diaz swap homes and find love in this holiday-themed, PG-13 rated RomCom from 2006. Jack Black and Jude Law are the lucky guys.

Winslet plays Iris, who works at a newspaper in London. She's hung-up on a co-worker, and is devastated when he announces his engagement to another co-worker. Diaz plays Amanda. She lives in LA and owns a business that produces movie trailers. Right before Christmas, she kicks out her lying, cheating boyfriend and decides to take a vacation.

Through the magic of the Internet, she contacts Iris and the two quickly agree to swap homes for 10 days. Iris heads for LA and Amanda heads to Surrey. Iris busies herself with helping out an elderly neighbor, while Amada tries unsuccessfully not to fall for Iris's brother.

Overall review: Liked it. On the day that I watched this movie, it held my interest when nothing else would. The cast is attractive, the script isn't overly corny, the plot isn't overly contrived (OK, maybe it is) and the actors seem to have fun.

I recommend, however, that you stay away from another Cameron Diaz film, What Happens in Vegas. Diaz finds true love with Ashton Kutcher in this PG-13 rated effort from 2008. Unfortunately, she doesn’t find herself in a very good movie.

Diaz plays Joy, a Wall Street trader who decides to throw a surprise party for her fiancé. The surprise turns out to be that he dumps her right there in front of all their friends. Kutcher is Jack, a slacker who gets fired by his dad from the family closet-making business.

To help get over their disappointment, they each grab a friend and head to Las Vegas. A mix-up in rooms leads to the four being thrown together, which leads to Joy and Jack getting drunk and married just hours later, which leads to Joy and Jack deciding to divorce just hours after that. But, they can't get away clean. Jack puts one of Joy's quarters in a slot machine and hits the jackpot. When they get back to New York, judge Dennis Miller sentences them to six months of marriage before he'll grant a divorce and divvy up the cash.

Overall review: Hated it (mostly). The movie is a comedy, so you know going in that Jack and Joy will fall in love in the end. But, watching them get there isn't as much fun as it should have been. The movie has its moments, but I couldn't shake the feeling that the humor here was largely mean-spirited and went for belly laughs when a little bit of wit would have worked so much better.