THE HOLIDAY

Cute movie - except for the fact that Cameron Diaz sleeps with Jude Law five minutes after she meets him.

Diaz plays Amanda Woods, the owner of a movie trailer company (trailers, in this case, meaning previews of movies). She's a high stress, successful kind of girl. After breaking up with her boyfriend (Edward Burns), she decides she's gotta get away. On the other side of the globe is Iris Simpkins, played by Kate Winslet, who has recently found out that the man she is in love with, is engaged to be married. Iris decides she's gotta get away. So she puts her London home up for rent as a vacation home, and Amanda answers the ad. They talk, and decide to swap homes. The night Amanda arrives in London, Iris's brother, Graham, (Jude Law) drops by, totally unaware that Iris has rented the place out. Graham and Amanda immediately feel chemistry. When he kisses her, she throws caution to the wind and asks him to stay the night. The next morning is awkward. He explains that he's kinda "complicated" (he keeps getting calls from females). She tells him not to worry because she "will not fall in love" with him. But you can see they both want to be together. One evening, Amanda decides to stop by his place...and gets a surprise. (don't worry - the surprise makes you fall in love with the guy!)

Meanwhile, in Los Angeles, Iris is loving Amanda's fancy big house. She ends up meeting Miles, (Jack Black) a film composer that works with Amanda. They become good friends and spend a lot of time together. He is seeing someone, but soon finds heartbreak in that relationship. Together they help each other work through their pain.

It was a cute movie that wove the lives of all these characters in a funny, touching way. One of the funniest parts is when Iris is on the phone with her brother and he tells her that he "met" Amanda. Amanda calls Iris on the other line and Iris goes back and forth between the two calls. As she begins to "reprimand" Graham about hitting on her "renter", Amanda says, "Um...Its still me".

THE HOLIDAY definitely had an all-star cast. I love Jack Black in everything I've seen him in, even though he usually seems to play himself. So maybe it's because I'm too used to his usual characters (School of Rock, Nacho Libre, Saving Silverman, etc.), but in this movie he seemed a tiny bit out of place playing the suave sophisticated music composer. It came across as if he was trying hard to be on his best behavior. This seems to be the first romantic comedy roles for Kate Winslet and Jude Law - but they were well cast in this.

Maybe it was the cast that carried it, but I thought this movie was fun! A feel-good romantic comedy with a happily ever after ending!