|
|
  
Back Shelf Beauties
|
Last Holiday All of us have dreams and goals we wish to accomplish some day, and, deep down inside, in the place you don't like to visit, we fear time will run out before we do. This is why we can relate to Last Holiday and want to find some inspiration in it, if the team behind the film could have delivered it. Queen Latifah stars as Georgia - a top salesperson at a New Orleans department store who has plenty of dreams (set before Hurricane Katrina, which is not referenced in the movie). She wants to visit a posh resort in the Czech Republic run by a world class chef, Chef Didier (Gerard Depardieu); saves pictures of her favorite recipes so she can eat those creations after losing some weight; and has eyes for a co-worker, Sean (LL Cool J). One day, Georgia has a minor accident at work, which requires a CAT scan, but the results are more than shocking. The doctor has discovered our heroine has a rare disease and little time to live. Without much time left on this earth, she decides to start living the life she always hoped to live, and heads off to the Czech Republic to blow all of her savings on one last amazing trip. Once she gets there, Georgia gets more than she bargained for as she meets the owner of the store, Mr. Kragen (Timothy Hutton), Congressman Stewart (Michael Nouri) and her senator, Senator Dillings (Giancarlo Esposito). Will Georgia have the time of her life? Will everyone find out why she is there? Last Holiday is not a horrible movie, but it often lacks the spark and magical inspiration it aspires to impart on the audience as it floats from scene to scene without much of a purpose or direction. A madcap scenario is established as everyone at the hotel wants to get to know this mysterious woman Georgia becomes as she lives a devil may care life eating, saying and doing whatever she wants. Kragen thinks she might be a competitor. Senator Dillings thinks she could be a potential big donor. The staff think of her as a hero, and Sean decides to chase after her. Unfortunately, the scenario isn't as madcap as you might hope. Director Wayne Wang does a decent job keeping the various parts moving and entertaining, but, along with writers Jeffrey Price, Peter Seaman and JB Priestley, misses out on major opportunities to make the movie funnier. They just go for the obvious and seem to do it by going through the motions hoping Latifah and LL Cool J can make something out of it. The dialogue needs to be sharper and funnier, while we never get a good explanation why Kragen needs the Congressman and Senator to pass some sort of legislation to help his stores - a subplot that needs more development since it is supposed to be important to Last Holiday. Latifah is fine and always finds some way to make us laugh, but she lays it on a bit thick in the quiet moments, like when she speaks to God time and time again in a way no one really would, unless they are in a movie (these types of conversations tend to be quiet, not like you would have in a restaurant over dinner). Of course, Latifah makes up for it by being very likable and evokes great sympathy out of the audience. If anything, she should let loose to be as outrageous and wacky as she can be. Meanwhile, LL Cool J is dreadful. He is overly stiff the entire time, too willing to sacrifice his natural charm and smoothness to play a shy character. Even when his character becomes determined to do what he must do (I don't want to give it away), LL Cool J doesn't come out of his shell enough, especially for what should be a dramatic, heroic and amazing moment that makes the audience coo in excitement and praise. Hutton is OK as the big shot who gets taken down notch by notch as the movie plays out, and Alicia Witt is outright sexy and beautiful as his girlfriend, but she isn't given enough of a story to make us embrace her character the way we do Georgia and others. Last Holiday isn't the kind of movie you will hate, but it's not worth rushing out to see either. 2 Waffles (Out Of 4) Copyright 2006 - WaffleMovies.com
|
