R’ships are a tumbly bumbly ride for a a lotta people I’ve known, but its fun to watch some one as gorgeous as Kate & Cameron beat the blues in their own ways & emerge victorious!! Hence watching & writing on THE HOLIDAY is fun!
Iris (Kate Winslet) ~ hopeless romantic, hopelessly in love with her ex for over 3 yrs after breaking up! They’d broken up cuz he was two-timing her with another babe from their office and yet she’s hopelessly wrapped around his finger! So although as hopeless as the case may appear to be (with tears and all), you still get it! You get why she IS heading full speed in wrong direction (Women hurt in love u see! deadly thing!!).
Amanda (Cameron Diaz) ~ a complete opposite. A high strung, independent workaholic nut case. She never cries! She throws things at her guy for sleeping around with some one else and kicks his b u t t, and throws him outta her home! (Woman betrayed in love you see- deadly thing!!)
http://www.homeexchange.com is where they the two leading ladies meet each other which lead to naughty pillow fights jumping around in their undies… er, YA U WISH! Lets get back on track- they meet each other online to switch homes for a holiday (sasta tikau solution- wish I could do that- the only problem is WHO ON EARTH WOULD WANNA LIVE IN MINE ;) HEHEHE). So to break free from their vicious circle of disappointments, irritations, failures, an above all- MEN, they pack their bags & catch their flights to travels across continents at the bat of a lid! (sigh! no visa restrictions for us/uk chaps, I’m jealous)
Kate, a writer, lives in a lovely cute as a button cottage in Surrey (reminded me of the ones the hobbits lived in LOTR) and Cameron, a big-shot movie-trailer maker lives in a large swanky hi-tech apartment in LA (I’m yet to make u my mind which house I fell in love with more!) (Trivia: The interior sets for Amanda’s house were built on a sound stage and cost approximately $1 million, without exterior walls, a roof, plumbing, heating and electricity!)
So Kate goes crazy over the king size bed, large swimming pool, the room full of DVDs, all sorta LCD screens and god knows what all (Who wouldn’t go crazy!!!). Also she gets a peak into the life of Hollywood, when she befriends Eli Wallach (and 80 yr old Hollywood Writer) and Jack Black (a sound editor & her potential loverrrrrrrr). The warmth between the 3 is remarkably displayed. They have dinners, walks, they watch movies, and other than the occasionally interruption from her ex (grrr! Men!), she simply lazes around enjoying the ideal holiday! What’s nice to see is that although Kate & Jack are attracted to each other, we don’t see her jumping in love/ in bed with Jack Black—he ISN’T a re-bound!
Cameron on the other hand tried to warm up to the cottage, but gets bored immediately. Her decision to head back home is interrupted by a very drunk and handsome Jude Law (Kate’s bro in the movie) and amidst the heated sex that they have, love blossoms! But all’s not easy (and im not even talking about the long distance r’ship that they would have to endure…!) as we need to deal with the other two women in Jude’s life (both incredibly cute).
Why should you watch this ~
You are attuned to the story line right from scene one, where the camera wistfully moves over all the characters in the warm glow of the very snowy winter and the fuzzy Christmassy background. Whether the characters do right or wrong, you can feel what they feel, and can truly understand their twisted reasoning- whatever it may be! The sharp contrast between the warmth of Iris’s character where she simply breaks down to tears as she cannot take anymore of the cruelty and curse of “being unloved”, and Amanda’s character where she clinical observes and reacts to situations she finds herself in, marvelously compliment each other.
The movie is fun, sassy and relatable. It’s moving on from stuck-in-a-rut situation to a breathtaking adventure into love and all the wonders of life. You see how all the characters re-visit themselves and come across brilliant facades of their own selves!
Some lines I couldn’t resist quoting~
Kate to Jack: It doesn’t matter how many new haircuts you get, or gyms you join, or how many glasses of chardonnay you drink with your girlfriends... you still go to bed every night going over every detail and wonder what you did wrong or how you could have misunderstood. And how in the hell for that brief moment you could think that you were that happy. And sometimes you can even convince yourself that he’ll see the light and show up at your door. And after all that, however long all that may be, you’ll go somewhere new. And you’ll meet people who make you feel worthwhile again. And little pieces of your soul will finally come back. And all that fuzzy stuff, those years of your life that you wasted, that will eventually begin to fade
Cameron to Jude: Sex makes everything complicated. Even when you dont have it, the not having it makes things complicated.
Jude: Which is why its usually better to have it!
Some conclusions I came up with~
One SHOULD take holidays once in while to get away, refresh one’s minds
Men CAN be emotional fools
British accents ARE classy & cute
Kate MUST win the Oscar some day
Old people ARE adorable
ANYONE can be dumped!
Also, you’re left wondering is that how one earth would they continue their 2000 miles away long distance r’ships… but hey, life’s about figuring out answers!
Also, r’ships are actually simple… It’s we who complicate matters!