Last Holiday (2006 film)

Infobox_Film
name = Last Holiday


caption = Promotional poster
imdb_id = 0408985
producer = Laurence Mark
Jack Rapke
director = Wayne Wang
writer = Jeffrey Price
Peter S. Seaman
starring = Queen Latifah
LL Cool J
Timothy Hutton
Giancarlo Esposito
music = George Fenton
cinematography = Geoffrey Simpson
editing = Deirdre Slevin
distributor = Paramount Pictures
released = January 13, 2006
runtime = 112 minutes
budget = $45 million
country = United States
language = English

"Last Holiday" is a 2006 American comedy film directed by Wayne Wang. The screenplay by Jeffrey Price and Peter S. Seaman is an updated, gender-reversed adaptation of the 1950 film of the same name written by J.B. Priestley.

Plot

Georgia Byrd, an employee in the cookware department at Kragen's Department Store in New Orleans, is a shy, unassuming woman who longs to cook professionally and records her dreams of a better life in a journal labeled "Possibilities." While flirting with a co-worker Sean Williams, she bumps her head on a cabinet door and is taken to the store's health center for a CAT scan. There she is told by company physician Dr. Gupta she has several brain tumors resulting from a rare neurological disorder called Lampingtons disease. Since her HMO plan will not cover the exorbitant cost of an operation, Georgia resigns herself to the fact she has only a few weeks to live, quits her job, liquidates her assets, and sets off on a dream vacation at the deluxe Grandhotel Pupp in the spa city of Karlovy Vary in the Czech Republic.

Free of inhibitions and determined to live life to the fullest, Georgia checks into the Presidential suite, buys a designer wardrobe in expensive boutiques, makes extensive use of the hotel's spa facilities, attempts snowboarding and base jumping off of a dam, enjoys succulent meals prepared by world-renowned Chef Didier, and wins a small fortune playing roulette in the casino. She impresses the hotel's staff, with the exception of cantankerous guest services manager Miss Gunther, with her naive manner and forthright kindness, and mingles with some of the other guests, including Matthew Kragen, a self-help guru and coincidentally owner of the store where she works; his assistant/mistress Ms. Burns; pandering Senator Dillings from her home state of Louisiana; and prominent Congressman Stewart. Kragen is skeptical about Georgia's origins and suspects her of trying to sabotage his business, but the rest are charmed by her free spirit.

When Kragen bribes Miss Gunther to dig up information about Georgia's background, she finds a letter Georgia has written providing instructions for the disposal of her remains after her death. Miss Gunther is moved by the letter and realizes Georgia's self-confidence and sunny optimism have touched everyone who has met her since her arrival. She confesses to Georgia she found the letter and urges her to return home and spend her last days with those she loves. Georgia takes Miss Gunther's advice and heads for the airport, only to discover an avalanche has blocked the road. Unbeknownst to her, Sean - having learned of her diagnosis and ready to acknowledge his feelings for her - is in a taxi on the other side of the snowdrift, trying to reach her at the hotel.

Georgia returns to the hotel, and Sean starts across the snow on foot. At a New Year's Eve party that evening, Kragen exposes Georgia as a saleswoman in one of his stores, but his colleagues, disgusted by Kragen's insensitivity, embrace her and abandon him. Dejected and embarrassed, Kragen goes up an upper floor of the hotel and sits on the ledge contemplating suicide. Georgia tries to persuade him to come down, suggesting if he were nicer and less driven and greedy, he would be a happier person.

Sean arrives at the hotel and joins Georgia and Kragen on the ledge. In the lobby, Miss Gunther finds a fax from Dr. Gupta, in which he tells Georgia she was misdiagnosed due to X-rays generated by a broken, outdated CAT scanner. Miss Gunther rushes up to the ledge to announce the good news.

Georgia and Sean return to New Orleans to get married and open a restaurant, where they are visited by Chef Didier and Georgia's long-time inspiration, Emeril Lagasse.

Production

In the original 1950 film, the leading character of George Bird was played by Alec Guinness. Screenwriters Jeffrey Price and Peter S. Seaman updated the story for John Candy, but the project was shelved after the actor's death. Years later, Queen Latifah's agent read their script and suggested they revise it for her.

The gourmet cuisine seen throughout the film was prepared by chefs from the Food Network, and recipes for many of the dishes, including Lobster Salad in Potato Leek Nests, Duck Hash on Toasted Baguette, Spiced Lamb Shanks with Blood Orange Relish, Roasted Quail with Brioche and Chorizo Stuffing, Risotto Barolo with Roasted Vegetables, Bananas Foster, and Poulet Tchoupitoulas, were available on the network's website. In one scene, Georgia watches footage from "Emeril Live" to help her prepare a chicken. As part of the film's promotion, Queen Latifah appeared as a guest on Lagasse's show.

The film opened on 2,514 screens in the US, earning $12,806,188 and ranking #2 in its opening weekend. It eventually grossed $38,399,961 in the US and $4,943,287 in foreign markets for a worldwide box office total of $43,343,248 [ [http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=lastholiday.htm BoxOfficeMojo.com] ] .

Principal cast

*Queen Latifah ..... Georgia Byrd
*LL Cool J ..... Sean Williams
*Timothy Hutton ..... Matthew Kragen
*Giancarlo Esposito ..... Senator Dillings
*Alicia Witt ..... Ms. Burns
*Gérard Depardieu ..... Chef Didier
*Susan Kellerman ..... Miss Gunther
*Michael Nouri ..... Congressman Stewart
*Ranjit Chowdhry ..... Dr. Gupta

Critical reception

Roger Ebert of the "Chicago Sun-Times" said the film "takes advantage of the great good nature and warmth of Queen Latifah, and uses it to transform a creaky old formula into a comedy that is just plain lovable. To describe the plot is to miss the point, because this plot could have been made into countless movies not as funny and charming as this one ... All depends on the Queen, who has been known to go over the top on occasion, but in this film finds all the right notes and dances to them delightfully. It is good to attend to important cinema like "Syriana" and "Munich", but on occasion we must be open to movies that have more modest ambitions: They only want to amuse us, warm us, and make us feel good. "Last Holiday" plays like a hug." [ [http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060112/REVIEWS/60110003/1023 "Chicago Sun-Times" review] ]

Ruthe Stein of the "San Francisco Chronicle" stated, "Latifah's latest vehicle inexorably marches toward an ending you can see coming from the first reel ... This harmless bit of fluff lacks the element of surprise but is not without random charming moments supplied by its incandescent star." [ [http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2006/01/13/DDGGDGLSO41.DTL "San Francisco Chronicle" review] ]

Jessica Reaves of the "Chicago Tribune" awarded the film three out of four stars and described Queen Latifah as "soft, bold and very funny, infusing this otherwise predictable movie with a contagious charm." She added, "While this is not exactly a profound film, and the message is hardly new, it's testament to this movie's joyous energy that it doesn't matter in the least. We may know exactly where we're going, but the journey is so much fun, all but the most peevish audience members will find it impossible to complain." [ [http://chicago.metromix.com/movies/review/movie-review-last-holiday/161289/content "Chicago Tribune" review] ]

Janet K. Keeler of the "St. Petersburg Times" graded the film B- and commented, "Strong performances by Latifah, LL Cool J and Depardieu, who is strangely but perfectly cast, save "Last Holiday" from irrelevance. Latifah is more than the funny girl with attitude we've seen in "Bringing Down the House", "Taxi" and "Beauty Shop". She's got the goods to play the leading lady, and a sexy one at that. Latifah's performance here isn't as good as her Oscar-nominated turn in "Chicago", but it shows off more range and a subtler touch than subsequent movies." [ [http://sptimes.com/2006/01/12/Weekend/Saving_the_best_for_l.shtml "St. Petersburg Times" review] ]

Awards and nominations

Queen Latifah was nominated for the NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Actress in a Motion Picture but lost to Keke Palmer in "Akeelah and the Bee".

References

External links

* [http://www.lastholidaymovie.com/ Official website]
*imdb title|id=0408985|title=Last Holiday