Last Holiday (2006)

User Rating:

6.3/10   

Director:

Wayne Wang

Writers (WGA):

Jeffrey Price (screenplay) &
Peter S. Seaman (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

13 January 2006 (USA)

Genre:

Adventure | Comedy | Drama

Tagline:

Enjoy yourself . . . It's later than you think!

Plot:

After she's diagnosed with a terminal illness, a shy woman decides to take a European vacation.

Plot Keywords:

Chef | Senator | Hotel | New Orleans | Terminal Illness

Awards:

6 nominations

Cast

Queen Latifah	...	Georgia Byrd
LL Cool J	...	Sean Matthews
Timothy Hutton	...	Matthew Kragen
Giancarlo Esposito	...	Senator Dillings
Alicia Witt	...	Ms. Burns
Gérard Depardieu	...	Chef Didier
Jane Adams	...	Rochelle
Michael Estime	...	Marlon (as Mike Estime)
Susan Kellermann	...	Gunther
Jascha Washington	...	Darius
Matt Ross	...	Adamian
Ranjit Chowdhry	...	Dr. Gupta
Michael Nouri	...	Congressman Stewart
Jaqueline Fleming	...	Tanya
Kendall Mosby	...	Anton

MPAA:

Rated PG-13 for some sexual reference.

Runtime:

112 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English | French

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital | DTS

Certification:

UK:12A | Ireland:PG | Netherlands:MG6 | France:U | Brazil:12 | Malaysia:U | Australia:PG | Argentina:13 | Sweden:Btl | Singapore:PG | Canada:PG (Ontario) | USA:PG-13 (certificate #41977) | South Korea:12

Filming Locations:

Austria

Company:

Last Holiday Productions

Trivia:

During one scene where Queen Latifah's character is serving LL Cool J the Duck Hash on Toasted Baguette, the Food Network staff had to substitute duck in the actual dish because LL Cool J doesn't eat it.

Goofs:

Factual errors: The casino employee reports Georgia's roulette winnings total 15,546,305 Czech crowns (CZK), which one character says is "about a hundred thousand dollars". At the exchange rate during the time of shooting, this would be far closer to about $650,000 (USD). (However, later in the film, Georgia's casino receipt is seen showing "3,546,305 K", which would have been around $150,000.)

Quotes:

Georgia Byrd: [on the spa table] I've gotta use the bathroom!

Movie Connections:

Featured in "Siskel & Ebert & the Movies: (2006-01-07)" (2006)

Soundtrack:

Rich Girl

Enjoyable Feel Good Movie

Currently, we have our fair share of pointless actions films (absent of any plot and decent script) or films that are trying to take themselves too seriously or films that are too dark and downbeat or films which try to be funny but are not so it was a pleasure to go with my family recently to see Last Holiday.

Queen Latifah comfortably heads a cast who delivered solid, believable performances across the board (and some new faces to me). OK, the story was a bit contrived and some sequences were a bit far fetched (the snow board ride for instance) but it was a great deal of fun.

The story, which looked at people's aspirations and dreams and the need to take every day as it comes, to enjoy life to the full (as we don't know what is round the corner) was played out with great passion and skill. Latifah's comedy acting (loved the raised eyebrow and sideways glances) was relaxed and easily won over the sympathy of the audience. Great, also, to see Gerard Depardieu again as I haven't seen him for a while.

Refreshingly set in snowy Prague, good Direction and lovely Cinematography. I recommend that you see it.