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 Central-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 Grandhotel Pupp in the Czech Republic, 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:

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

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Genres:

Adventure | Comedy | Romance

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for some sexual reference

Did You Know?

Trivia

Both Dana "Queen Latifah" Owens (Georgia) & James Todd "LL Cool J" Smith (Sean) started their careers in entertainment as rappers. They also each had starring roles in their own tv series in the 1990s: "Living Single" & "In The House" respectively.

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Goofs

When at the roulette table, one of the characters tells Georgia that her single bet on black 17 is very large. After winning 3 times in a row on that number, rebankrolling her winnings each time she walks away from the table and the other character tells her she has won almost 100,000 us dollars. Since roulette pays 36 to 1 on a single spot, that means her initial bet was only approximately 2 dollars! Since she has approximately 4 stacks of red chips ($5) I would estimate her to have put about $400 down initially, which would have netted her about 18.6 million!

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Quotes

Gunther: [Georgia finishes telling Gunther the spa services she wants to have reserved] No anti-aging treatment?
Georgia Byrd: No, I ain't worried about aging.
Gunther: So that will be all?
Georgia Byrd: Ooh... ah... yes! The colon irrigation treatment. That's my gift to you. Sorta like a 'let's be friend's' gesture. Now you think of me when you're having it!

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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

Cool
Written by Gwen Stefani & Dallas Austin
Performed by Gwen Stefani
Courtesy of Interscope Records
Under license from Universal Music Enterprises

User Reviews

"Seize the Day!"

This is a good romantic comedy, a "feel good movie" (a remake of "Last Holiday" with Alec Guinness from Ealing Studios in 1950), highly recommended for those who want to see a movie about how you can crab every day of your life to make it a great experience. With a predictable plot (how many times we have seen this idea at the past?) but very sincere and enjoyable (althought we hope we 'll see something more interesting from the director of the "Joy LucK Club" and "Smoke" in near future). With good performances from Queen Latifah, Timothy Hutton and an especially amusement cameo from Gerard Depardieu. P.S. Including some very exciting recipes at the end...

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English French

Release Date:

13 January 2006 (USA)

Also Known As:

Last Holiday

Filming Locations:

Pupp Hotel, Karlovy Vary, Czech Republic

Box Office

Budget:

$45,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$12,806,188, 15 January 2006

Gross USA:

$38,399,961

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$43,451,846

Company Credits

Production Co:

Last Holiday Productions, Paramount Pictures, ImageMovers

Technical Specs

Runtime:

112 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital DTS SDDS

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1