The Holiday

Rating: 5/5

With every passing year, my love for The Holiday increasingly grows. 

I had previously written a review for The Holiday, but looking back at it, it was one of my early attempts at movie writing, and I really don’t feel that I captured enough in that review just how much I adore this movie, so I’m going to give it another shot. The Holiday is a seasonal favorite that has been an annual watch for me since its' initial release, but this current Christmas was the first time I decided to watch it twice. Maybe I’ve just been in a place where I need to frequently revisit my favorites, or maybe The Holiday is just that wonderfully charming. 

For me, what makes The Holiday such a beloved film is how it is a Christmas story that centers itself around the love of movies. Cameron Diaz’s character is a movie trailer editor (my dream job) and in the storyline that follows Kate Winslet's character, Iris, she begins to learn about the neighborhood of her L.A. vacation home, and finds out that one of her neighbors is a man named Arthur Abbott (Eli Wallach), who is a retired screenwriter from the classic era of Hollywood. Even if what Iris and Arthur talk about from the golden age of Tinsel Town is somewhat fabricated, it is the inexplicable allure and charm of that time period that adds a really wonderful and unique concept to the movie. That, and the brilliant and charismatic performance given by Eli Wallach are major factors into what make The Holiday so excellent. I recently listened to a podcast episode of This Had Oscar Buzz, where they were discussing this movie, and said Winslet and Wallach are the best relationship in the film, and I wholeheartedly agree. 

In most movies of the romcom genre, there is of course a score, but they’re rarely described as memorable. The music sweeping behind the plot in The Holiday however, is one of my most favorite scores I’ve heard. When I think of the many wonderful films I’ve watched that had a moment where the music and the scene created movie bliss, there are three from The Holiday alone that immediately come to mind. It’s score that I can recite in my head without needing to have heard it in recent history, and if I have watched The Holiday recently, the score plays in my mind for days afterward and I absolutely love it. I know there will be people who may say Hans Zimmer has better scores out there, and I know I haven’t heard them all, but this one is my favorite of his that I’ve come across.

As much as I love the acting by Kate Winslet, Jude Law, and Cameron Diaz; it is the performance given by Jack Black that really caught me by surprise upon first watching The Holiday. Jack Black is commonly cast in roles where is character is outlandish and loud, but in The Holiday, his character, who is a film composer, is gentle and rather soft spoken. Don't get me wrong, Jack Black is great at the over the top comedy, but it is really nice to see him with a role that is a different change of pace. 

The Holiday is a movie that makes me eagerly await the Christmas season even more than I already do. I know once Thanksgiving has over, it means it’s time to revisit one of my favorite films. There are few movies that instantly throw me into the spirit of Christmas like this one does. Maybe I'm too much of a sucker for love stories and classic Hollywood, but even so, The Holiday is wonderful and deserves to be a Christmas season staple for all.