The Holiday (2006) - Obvious ploys and overlength weigh down Meyers' Christmas escapade

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Four beloved stars look lovingly at one another on this simple poster for Nancy Meyers' The Holiday

Two women, one in England, the other in Los Angeles, both could use some distance to their lives for a while, and so they decide online to swap homes during Christmas for a couple of weeks.

 

The Holiday is written and directed by great Pennsylvanian filmmaker Nancy Meyers (The Parent Trap (1998)).

It often feels as if it must be the most ridiculous film ever, and at its thickest it even made me nauseous. Luckily it does grow more appetizing after a while.

Kate Winslet (Enigma (2001)), - who on the surface incites regret in a part that seems a good deal under her abilities, - and Cameron Diaz (The Invisible Circus (2001)), - who one must also pity some in a role that's so formulaic, 'it' arrives with a sleep mask, tripping around on high heels, and literally runs through the snowy landscape of Great Britain two weeks later, (so we really get her development it seems ...), - both of them play women with self-confidence problems, who also both refuse to stop yapping. Scene after scene is far longer than necessary, so that The Holiday almost feels like two romcoms slapped together to make one giant romcom whopper.

This is likely Meyers' most negligible film, which utilizes ploys and ideas that have worked before but which seems gimmicky here, but it is redeemed to some degree by its stars: Diaz and Jude Law (The Nest (2020)) are saucy and good-looking together; Jack Black (The D Train (2015)) is good and luckily even gets a chance to sing a bit; and Eli Wallach (The Pirate (1978, TV movie)) is charming and splendid as a retired screenwriter.

 

Related posts:

Nancy Meyers: It's Complicated (2009) - Meyers' delightful romcom star vehicle 

2003 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I]

Something's Gotta Give (2003) - Meyers, Jack & Diane are a killer combo 

 

 

Watch a trailer for the film here

 

Cost: 85 mil. $

Box office: 205.8 mil. $

= Minor flop (returned 2.42 times its cost)

[The Holiday premiered 29 November (New York) and runs 136 minutes. Meyers reportedly wrote the screenplay with the four stars in mind for the parts. Shooting took place from January - June 2006 in England, including in London, and in California, including in Los Angeles. The film opened #3, behind fellow new release Apocalypto and holdover hit Happy Feet, to a 12.7 mil. $ first weekend in North America, where it spent one more weekend in the top 5 (#5), grossing 63.2 mil. $ (30.7 % of the total gross). The 2nd and 3rd biggest markets were the UK with 23.9 mil. $ (11.6 %) and Germany with 16.1 mil. $ (7.8 %). The-numbers.com estimate that the film additionally made in excess of 82.8 mil. $ on DVD sales in North America alone. Meyers returned with It's Complicated (2009). Winslet returned with a voice performance in Le Renard et l'Enfant (2007) and physically in The Reader (2008); Diaz with voice performances in Shrek the Third (2007) and Shrek the Halls (2007, TV short) and physically in What Happens in Vegas (2008); Law in My Blueberry Nights (2007); and Black in The Naked Trucker and T-Bones Show (2007, TV-series), Exposure (2007, TV-series) and theatrically in Margot at the Wedding (2007). The Holiday is rotten at 51 % with a 5.70/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

 

What do you think of The Holiday? 

Something's Gotta Give (2003) - Meyers, Jack & Diane are a killer combo

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+ Best Screen Couple of the Year: Jack Nicholson & Diane Keaton

Few stars are established enough that marketing their major film relies solely on their first names, but in the case of Nancy Meyers' Something's Gotta Give, the confidence is understandable

A middle-aged playwright gets an unexpected visit in her house in the Hamptons by her daughter and her much older boyfriend. SPOILER He has several heart attacks; she falls in love easily; he does not...

Something's Gotta Give is written and directed by great Pennsylvanian filmmaker Nancy Meyers (The Parent Trap (1998)).
It is a wonderful film of a rare breed that I don't mind admitting being a sucker for. It features grand acting from Diane Keaton (The Godfather: Part II (1974)), Jack Nicholson (The Rebel Rousers (1970)), Frances McDormand (Bleeding Hearts (1994)), Amanda Peet (Identity Thief (2013)) and Keanu Reeves (Ellie Parker (2005)). It is completely sweet and smartly written and directed. Meyers' grip on the romcom genre is eminent. My only (small) qualm is that the third act is a little long.

Related post:

Nancy Meyers: It's Complicated (2009) - Meyers' delightful romcom star vehicle

2003 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED II] 

2003 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I]

 

Watch a trailer for the film here

Cost: 80 mil. $
Box office: 266.7 mil. $
=  Box office success (returned 3.33 times its cost)
[Something's Gotta Give was released 12 December (USA) and runs 128 minutes. Nicholson and Keaton had previously starred together in Reds (1981). Shooting took place in Paris, France and in California, including Los Angeles, and in New York from February - July 2003. The film opened #1 to a 16 mil. $ first weekend in North America, where it stayed in the top 5 for another 4 weeks (#3-#4-#3-#5) and grossed 124.7 mil. $ (46.8 % of the total gross). The 2nd and 3rd biggest markets were Germany with 22.2 mil. $ (8.3 %) and the UK with 12.6 mil. $ (4.7 %). The film was nominated for 1 Oscar: Best Actress (Keaton), lost to Charlize Theron for Monster. The film won 1/2 Golden Globe nominations, a National Board of Review award and several other honors. Roger Ebert gave the film a 3½/4 star review, equal in rating to this one. Meyers returned with The Holiday (2006). Nicholson returned in The Departed (2006); Keaton in The Family Stone (2005). Something's Gotta Give is fresh at 72 % with a 6.6/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of Something's Gotta Give?

It's Complicated (2009) - Meyers' delightful romcom star vehicle

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+ Best Poster of the Year

Meryl Streep and Alec Baldwin make a terrific bed couple on this luxurious, instantly likable poster for Nancy Meyers' It's Complicated

After having been divorced from each other for 20 years, Jane (Meryl Streep (Mamma Mia! (2008))) begins an affair with her newly remarried ex-husband Jake (Alec Baldwin (The Cooler (2003))), which she balances with a budding romance with a sweet architect (Steve Martin (Cheaper by the Dozen (2003))) and her relationship with her three grown children.

It's Complicated is the wonderful 5th film from great Pennsylvanian writer-director Nancy Meyers (The Parent Trap (1998)). It is a super-funny all around good experience with all three abovementioned stars giving terrific performances in each their own way. John Krasinski (Leatherheads (2008)) is good in a supporting role as a son in law, and Hunter Parrish (All Nighter (2017)) makes for first class eye candy, although the film maybe overdoes its lust for eye candy a bit in other instances. Meyers goes in for the lush Santa Barbara high-style of living that her well-off Jane character enjoys, where everything seems beautiful, large, clean, well-functioning and new.
It's Complicated is polished alright, but it is also a great, fun film.

Related posts:

2009 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED IV]
2009 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED III]
2009 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED II]
2009 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I] 

Watch a trailer for the film here

Cost: 85 mil. $
Box office: 219.1 mil. $
= Box office success
[It's Complicated premiered 10 December (Westwood, Los Angeles) and runs 120 minutes. It was shot in New York and California from April - August 2009. The film opened #4, behind hold-over hit Avatar and fellow new releases Sherlock Holmes and Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel, to a 22.1 mil. $ first weekend in North America, where it stayed in the top 5 for another 2 weeks (#4; #5) and grossed 112.7 mil. $ (51.4 % of the total gross). The 2nd and 3rd biggest markets were Australia with 14.1 mil. $ (6.4 %) and the UK with 13.8 mil. $ (6.3 %). Roger Ebert gave the film a 2.5/5 star review, translating to two notches harder than this review. The film was nominated for 3 Golden Globes, a BAFTA and won a National Board of Review award for Best Acting by an Ensemble. It's Complicated is rotten at 57 % with a 5.8/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of It's Complicated?