InsidePulse DVD Review – Last Holiday

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Image Courtesy of Amazon.com

Director:

Wayne Wang

Cast:

Queen Latifah……….Georgia Byrd
LL Cool J……….Sean Matthews
Timothy Hutton……….Matthew Kragen
Giancarlo Esposito……….Senator Dillings
Alicia Witt …. Ms. Burns
Gérard Depardieu……….Chef Didier
Jane Adams……….Rochelle
Michael Estime……….Marlon

The Movie

If there’s one thing Queen Latifah doesn’t get credit for as an actress it’s that she has the sort of “everywoman” presence that no other actress in Hollywood really has. It may be the fact that she does not have the waif-like figure seemingly required out of nearly every actress, or it may be the fact that she has developed her persona from her days as a hip hop artist who had to earn every single album sale she made in a decidedly male genre. So when she made the transition from artist to actress, carving out her own niche in a world of single digit waists and D cups is something she’s familiar with. It’s evident in the roles she chooses and the films she makes, and it’s pretty obvious from Last Holiday that choosing parts suited for her is something she does particularly well.

Latifah stars as Georgia Byrd, a retail clerk who finds out she has terminal brain cancer and less than a month to live. Georgia is a shy woman who has saved her money over the years for a rainy day, not really having lived the sort of life she envisions herself having. Flying off to Europe to spend her last month in the lap of luxury, Byrd starts to figure out what she’s been missing in her existence. Throw in the complications of an attempted romance by her co-worker Sean (LL Cool J), as well as the political machinations of a Senator (Giancarlo Esposito) on vacation. It’s a cliché and formulaic film that works because Latifah is just that good at what she does.

Latifah’s performance isn’t as good as her Oscar-nominated turn in Chicago, but it’s inspired considering the material she’s given with. It’s tired and boring most times, as we know exactly what’s going to happen and how the film will end, but Latifah’s presence brings a lot of energy and warmth to a role that desperately needs it. She’s a warm and engaging presence on the screen, playing Georgia to near perfection. It isn’t a brilliant performance in the sense of the word, but for the genre it’s about as good as it can be.

The script and direction is rather pedestrian in how it handles its subject matter. This is a remake, and they have adapted the material for a new era and a new gender in the lead, but at the same time it’s been adapted into a relatively pedestrian film. There isn’t anything original or imaginative beyond the stunt sequences from Latifah, which are good, but Latifah brings such energy that the film elevates to a relatively good film.

Score : 7.5 / 10

The Video

Presented in a widescreen format with a 1.85:1 aspect ratio, the film has a great transfer. The film-makers were going for a distinct look for both environments, with different sorts of color and backgrounds, and they both come through quite clearly.

The Audio

Presented in a Dolby Digital 5.1 format, the film has a great audio track. The sound is separated well and uses the full advantage of the Dolby Digital system. This is a dialogue film with some creative uses of music and subtle score, but it comes through loud and clear.

The Extras

Last Holiday Packing Light is a behind the scenes featurette focusing on how the remake of the 1950 film came to light. It’s interesting to hear about the casting, which is a big focus of this 15 minute featurette, as they focus on LL Cool J and how this is radical departure from his usual roles that feature him “in a wife-beater with a pistol” as opposed to being an ordinary guy in a romantic comedy. They talk about the actors behind some of the characters and how the developed motivations for their characters as well. They also focus somewhat on the challenges of filming in the winter, as the cast and crew talk about the difficulties in terms of schedule as well as the cast working in cold temperatures.

Last Holiday Last Look is a seven minute feature that focuses on how the film’s setting were created as well as photographed. William Arnold (Production Designer), Wang and Geoffrey Simpson (Director of Photography) talk about how the film was shot as well as the use of color for each location. It’s interesting to hear Simpson and Arnold talk about how they found a hotel outside of Prague for the hotel in the film, as they got lucky enough to find a great hotel that had what they were looking. They also talk about how they were able to tailor Queen Latifah’s wardrobe to the setting and story, as they show how they were able to use her clothes to be able to accessorize parts of the story and the setting.

Last Holiday 23 Years in the Making focuses on how this remake came to be as producer Laurence Mark, screenwriter Jeffrey Price and Peter Seaman talk about how Mark wanted to get the film done in 1983 and took him over two decades to get it done. Price and Seaman were big fans of the original and wanted to bring the Alec Guinness vehicle to life again. John Candy was initially attached, as this was 1983 after all, and the film stalled in development mainly due to the fact that the main character was still going to be male. Eventually Latifah’s agent called and wanted to do the film as a vehicle for her, Price & Seaman agreed and tailored the film to her “everywoman” persona and adapted the character to Latifah’s style. Seaman and Price also talk about they reworked the film in to a much brighter light from the cynical one that accompanied the first version, as it’s obvious this was a labor of love for them as this seven minute feature shows a lot of the sheer volume of work that was put in to bringing this movie to light.

Recipes from Last Holiday are included as “Poulet Tchoupitoulas” and “Bananas Foster” from the Food Network, which contributed them to the film, are shown.

Two Deleted Scenes from the film are included, and it’s easy to see why they are both gone from the film as they don’t really add much if put back in to it.

Theatrical trailer

Score : 8 / 10