The Holiday

Back in 2002 I really needed a change. I was tired of the mountains, tired of local politics, tired of the same--and only--job I'd held for 17 years. I needed a change, and I needed one badly. So, I loaded up the truck and moved to Bever-ly.

Des Moines, Iowa, that is.

A friend there offered me a chance at the change I desperately needed, and I took it. I decided to stay for one year, then re-assess if I wanted the move to be permanent.

During my year there, I learned a great deal about myself. Having been employed to do what's basically the same gig since the age of nineteen, I had doubts that I was good enough to do it elsewhere, at any business other than the one I'd had a hand in developing. I discovered in Des Moines that I still had the chops, and that I could. And although at the time I hated the closed-in feeling of the West Virginia landscape (and the everything-is-brown-and-depressing look that is Winter here), I eventually came to miss the mountains. (There was something a bit eerie about a flatland across which you could see for thirty miles.) Not only did I miss the mountains, but I missed the culture, the people and I missed family.

I realized my former disdain was more about my perspective on life than it was about my lifestyle itself.


So, I came home.

Happier, wiser and more mature.

Sometimes, you just gotta force yourself out of your life routine to grow, learn and find peace.


It's the same message that can be found in The Holiday.

Amanda (Cameron Diaz) and Iris (Kate Winslet) lead lives that are less than satisfying. Although both are intelligent professionals, each has lost herself in her job, men or in materialsm. As a result, both have reached a point of despair going into the Christmas season. Through an Internet site that facilitates house-trading for people seeking an interesting twist on a vacation, Amanda and Iris swap their homes in London and LA for ten days. During the vacation, each becomes acquainted with people in the new environment who help them see life from a different perspective. As a result, both Amanda and Iris exit their brief respite healthier, happier and wiser.

There are lots of problems with The Holiday that must be overlooked to really enjoy the flick. First, it's a rather cutesy movie, the sort of chick-flick I will generally indulge only if it will guarantee me some action later in the evening. Secondly, there are some plot devices that seem contrived. And thirdly, the movie focuses more on Amanda's story than it does on Iris, and Iris has the more compelling story.

But...

The acting--particularly by Winslet, and supporting cast mates Jude Law and Eli Wallach--is terrific, and is successful in making the viewer care about the characters and their stories. The story is funny and sentimental, and both in appropriate proportion.

And Cameron Diaz sure is pretty.

The Holiday is a two-star movie that overachieves. If you can get by cutesy, give it a shot.