Last Holiday
Queen Latifah stars as Georgia Byrd, a working woman who has spent her whole
life dreaming of things she wanted to do, instead of acting upon those
dreams. When she gets diagnosed with a disease that will kill her in a
matter of weeks, Georgia throws caution to the wind and decides to seek out
a few of her dreams. In doing so, as expected, she learns about herself,
helps others see the 'folly of their ways' and finds love.
Though
predictable, I really did enjoy Last Holiday.
Queen Latifah is always a pleasure to watch on screen. She is able to show
moments of weakness and helplessness without coming across as either weak or
helpless. And I always believe her - she IS a struggling beauty shop owner,
she IS a working mother, she IS a lonely working girl. Having Queen Latifah
play the lead character ensured the audience would relate to and enjoy the
story. The only way this movie could have been better is if it wasn't as
predictable. Unfortunately, a movie like this is never going to be
unpredictable. Accept it, move on and enjoy it for what it is - a cute,
predictable, but funny and entertaining story.
I would give Last Holiday an overall grade of B.
The grade breakdown for this movie would be as follows:
Story: B. This is apparently a remake of an Alec Guinness movie. Here I
was thinking it was Joe VS. the Volcano they were remaking.
Acting: A. Everyone did a great acting job in this movie. LL Cool J is
adorable as the shy love interest. Timothy Hutton is thoroughly hate-worthy
as Latifah's boss and Gerard Depardieu is lovable as the crazy Chef Didier
(and I usually can't stand Gerard Depardieu).
Visuals: C. There weren't any ground breaking visuals in this movie.
Originality/Innovation: c. Predictable but cute.
Enjoyability grade: A. See it for what it is and you'll like it.
Overall grade: B.
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