Even by stupid romantic comedy standards, The Holiday is unfathomably bad. There are two parallel stories, which is two stories too many. The first, and marginally better, involves Jude Law and Cameron Diaz. Jude Law is ok - Diaz is awful. She is a charmless, superficial woman and why Jude Law could fall for her is unimaginable. With that story the film attempts to inject some overblown emotion at the last minute and tries to pretend like the audience cared about these characters. We didn't. The second one has Kate Winslet, a very boring subplot with an aging screenwriter, and one of the worst performances of all time by a horrifically miscast Jack Black. The Holiday is boring, it's annoying, it's interminable, and from beginning to end it's absolutely insufferable. Avoid like the plague at all costs.
Snappy dialog, awesome performances by all three leads and a great plot contribute to the fun of this send up on film noir. Kilmer actually succeeds in stealing some scenes from Downey Jr. (which is unusual) with his over the top character 'Gay Perry'.
A great fun ride of a film.
Hilarious film noir
Reviewed by Squint for Kiss Kiss Bang Bang at 2008-03-11 15:45:37
I've never laughed so much and been so engrossed in a film in a long time. Between the rapid-fire dialogue and the briskly unfolding mystery, this flick keeps you enthralled.