Last Holiday (2006)

Upon learning of a terminal illness, a shy woman decides to sell off all her possessions and live it up at a posh European hotel.

Director:

Wayne Wang

Writers:

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

Stars:

Queen Latifah, LL Cool J, Timothy Hutton

7 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
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
Michel 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

Storyline

In morte veritas. Georgia Byrd clerks at a New Orleans department store. She defers pleasure: cooks gourmet meals, eats Lean Cuisine; likes a co-worker in silence; has savings, but hasn't left Louisiana. All that changes when a CT Scan discloses she has three weeks to live. She cashes her savings and heads to Europe's Grandhotel Pupp, where Chef Didier presides. She checks into the Presidential Suite, orders everything on the menu, snowboards, and comes to the attention of the chef and the hotel's powerful American guests: a Congressman, a Senator, a retail magnate, and his mistress. She has nothing to lose, so she tells them what she thinks. Will the truth set them free?

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Plot Keywords:

fatal disease | department store | businessman | hotel | chef | 

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Taglines:

She Always Thought She Was Somebody... And She Was

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Genres:

Comedy | Romance

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for some sexual reference

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English French

Release Date:

13 January 2006 (USA)

Also Known As:

Las últimas vacaciones

Filming Locations:

Pupp Hotel, Karlovy Vary, Czech Republic

Box Office

Budget:

$45,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$15,508,779, 15 January 2006, Wide Release

Gross USA:

$38,360,195, 5 March 2006

Company Credits

Production Co:

Last Holiday Productions, Paramount Pictures, ImageMovers

Technical Specs

Runtime:

112 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital DTS

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The writers of this film are big fans of Ealing Studios comedies, and jumped at the chance to remake the original Alec Guinness film, Last Holiday (1950). Originally they intended for John Candy to play George Bird, but the project was shelved after Candy's death. It was resurrected years later when Queen Latifah's agent read the script, and contacted the writers about rewriting the story for a woman in the lead.

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Goofs

When Kregan and his guests are first shown eating together in the Granhotel Pupp restaurant, the wine in their glasses switches between white wine and red wine several times.

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Quotes

HMO Administrator: The cost of a median cranial debulking surgery is around $340,000. That's without anesthesia. You'll want that.

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Crazy Credits

The end credits show us how everybody in the movie's futures turned out.

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Connections

Referenced in God Bless America (2011)

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Soundtracks

Every Time I Feel the Spirit
Traditional
Arranged by Shelby J. Wills
Performed by Queen Latifah & Ebenezer Baptist Church Radio Choir

User Reviews

Cute movie

I was pleasantly surprised with how much I enjoyed this movie.

Yes the plot has been done many times before. As with most romantic comedies, it's nothing deep, had some cheesy moments and was totally predictable (I figured out the whole movie in the first 10 minutes).

But I really enjoyed it all the same. I laughed a lot in this movie. Partly because I could totally relate to trying to live life under the radar as woman that doesn't look like a model. Plus it was refreshing to see an African American woman shown with some depth in a movie. Not just the mean black woman.

There was very little cussing, little sexuality, and no nudity. Truly refreshing these days.

If you just want to enjoy a movie without having to put too much thought into it, go see this movie.