She always thought she was somebody special...and she was.
| Discover what happens when a woman finds out that her days are numbered. She throws caution to the wind to embark on a lifetime of fun in just a few weeks. |
"...surprisingly satisfying... Matt Singer, Village Voice
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Editor's Note
Queen Latifah is absolutely delightful in Wayne Wang's romantic comedy, LAST HOLIDAY. Latifah stars as Georgia Byrd, a reserved plus-sized woman who lives a dreary, ordinary life in pre-Katrina New Orleans, where she dreams of an elegant existence filled with fancy food, stylish clothing, and high-society parties. But she spends most of her evenings eating frozen dinners all alone, often thinking about a shy coworker (LL Cool J) she has a crush on. When she is suddenly diagnosed with a terminal illness and given three weeks to live, she collects her savings and decides to go crazy, doing all those things she would never allow herself to do before. She heads for one of the world's ritziest hotels, the Grand Hotel Pupp in Karlovy Vary in the Czech Republic, where she takes advantage of every luxury she can, from spa treatments to downhill ski runs to helicopter trips to designer shopping excursions. While her lavish appetite is admired by a gourmet chef (Gerard Depardieu, showing agile comic skill), she is deemed a potential threat by a corporate bigwig (a slick Timothy Hutton). She's also none too happy to find her too-smooth senator (Giancarlo Esposito) enjoying a lush vacation instead of serving his community. Latifah simply lights up the screen in a somewhat different version of the role played by Alec Guinness in Henry Cass's 1950 original. This version of LAST HOLIDAY has been updated with a playful pop soundtrack, Geoffrey Simpson's beautiful photography, William Arnold's bright and colorful production design, and an enjoyable, lighthearted pace from director Wang (DIM SUM, THE JOY LUCK CLUB, and MAID IN MANHATTAN).
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Entertainment Reviews
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Last Holiday - DVD Review
By: Sean O'Connell
filmcritic.com DVD Reviews
Published on: 12/19/2008 4:33 PM
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| Queen Latifah and LL Cool J often do great work in bad movies – she elevates unnecessary Barbershop spin-offs; he convincingly flexes his acting muscles in action-centered junk like S.W.A.T. and Mindhunters. Wayne Wang’s Last Holiday might be the first film to allow both bright spots to shine in support of a good feature. Essentially a remake of a 1950s Alec Guinness comedy, Holiday casts Latifah as Georgia Bird, a kind-hearted department store sales clerk who is too shy to ask out her dream man, Sean (Cool J), and too timid to pursue her dream career as a chef. After receiving a brutal bump on the head at work, Georgia is diagnosed with a rare form of brain cancer and told she has three weeks to live....read the full review | |
Cast & Crew
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Gerard Depardieu |
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Giancarlo Esposito |
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Queen Latifah |
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Timothy Hutton |
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Daniel Orlandi - Costume Designer |
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Deirdre Slevin - Editor |
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Geoffrey Simpson - Cinematographer |
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George Fenton - Original Music By |
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Jeffrey Price - Screenplay |
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Laurence Mark - Producer |
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Steve Starkey - Executive Producer |
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Wayne Wang - Director |
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William Arnold - Production Designer |
Professional Reviews
