The Holiday

The Holiday Information

The Holiday is a 2006 American romantic comedy film written, produced and directed by Nancy Meyers. Distributed by Columbia Pictures and Universal Studios, it stars Cameron Diaz and Kate Winslet as two lovelorn women from opposite sides of the Atlantic Ocean, who temporarily exchange homes to escape heartbreak during the holiday season. Jude Law and Jack Black co-star, with Eli Wallach, Shannyn Sossamon, Edward Burns and Rufus Sewell playing key supporting roles.

Released to mixed or average reviews by critics, the film became a global box office success, grossing $205 million worldwide, mostly from its international run. Diaz garnered an ALMA Award nomination for her performance, while Winslet was nominated for an Irish Film and Television Award the following year. The film itself won the 2007 Teen Choice Award in the Chick Flick category.

Plot

The story is about two women who trade homes "only to find that a change of address can change their lives." Amanda Woods (Cameron Diaz) is a workaholic who owns a company that produces movie trailers in Los Angeles. Iris Simpkins (Kate Winslet) is a society column editor for The Daily Telegraph in London.

Iris has been in love with Jasper Bloom (Rufus Sewell) for over three years, despite his unfaithful tendencies. When she finds out that he is engaged to the "other woman," Iris begins despairing over the state of affairs in her life. Meanwhile, Amanda discovers that her live-in boyfriend Ethan Ebbers (Edward Burns) has cheated on her with his 24-year-old secretary. She decides she wants to get away for the holidays. She visits a home swap website on which Iris had previously listed her "quaint cottage in Surrey." Amanda messages Iris about her interest. Iris quickly agrees and the two agree to swap homes for two weeks.

Iris revels in the luxury of Amanda's Los Angeles home, while Amanda is disappointed by the slower, quieter pace of life in Surrey. Amanda grows bored after just a few hours of trying to find something to do, and books a flight back to L.A. for the next day. Later that night, Iris' brother Graham (Jude Law) knocks at the door assuming Iris is home. Graham asks Amanda to let him spend the night despite the fact that he is a stranger, as he has been drinking at the pub and doesn't want to drive. They end up sleeping together.

In the morning, Graham receives a number of phone calls from Sophie and Olivia, which rouses the suspicions of Amanda that Graham is a womanizer. Graham, knowing that Amanda is leaving to return home, says to Amanda that "if the flight gets cancelled, [he is] having dinner at the pub" with friends. At the airport, just as Amanda's tickets are being processed, she decides to stay and goes to the pub. Graham enters the pub and looks for her but cannot see her until he meets his friends and then sees Amanda. Amanda drinks far too much that night. Graham suggests they go to lunch to get to know one another better. During lunch, Amanda shares with Graham that her parents divorced when she was fifteen and since then she has been unable to cry. Graham responds that he cries all the time: movies, books, sad stories, etc. While obviously enjoying each others' company, Amanda is worried that the relationship will become "complicated," and tries to keep Graham at arm's length.

Meanwhile, Iris is enjoying the stay at Amanda's house in L.A. She meets Ethan's friend Miles (Jack Black) when he comes with his girlfriend Maggie (Shannyn Sossamon) to Amanda's house. Later, she finds an old man, Arthur Abbott (Eli Wallach) standing lost at the corner, and she escorts him home. She learns that he was a script writer during the Golden Age of Hollywood. The two become fast friends. Arthur notes that Iris' behavior toward Jasper does not match her strong personality, and he suggests movies for her to watch that include strong female characters, in hopes that she can acquire what he calls "gumption." Iris finds out that the Screenwriters' Guild wants to throw a grand celebration in Arthur's honor, but he is reluctant to go for several reasons, chief among them being that he cannot walk without the assistance of his walker, and does not want to embarrass himself. Iris encourages him to go because it's a real honor, and promises to help him prepare to attend the award function with her. She undertakes an exercise program with him, determined to help him walk without his walker. During these days Jasper contacts her several times to get her to help with the book he is writing. She agrees to look over his pages, but ends up being so busy that she doesn't have time.

Amanda chooses not to see Graham again but once alone in the house she has a change of heart and surprises Graham at his house. He looks extremely nervous at the door, looking over his shoulder inside the house. Amanda asks Graham whether he is alone, and he says he isn't. However, before she can turn away, Olivia and Sophie come to the door, revealing that they are in fact Graham's daughters. Amanda is shocked and asks Graham in a whisper if he is divorced. He says no, because his wife died two years ago. Amanda asks him why he did not reveal the existence of his daughters to her during their sharing at lunch. Graham reveals that he doesn't usually tell women about them because he doesn't know how to date and be a dad. Amanda fits in beautifully, making Graham reconsider his decision to keep their relationship strictly casual.

Iris and Miles have slowly become friends, and one night go to the video store to rent some movies that Arthur had recommended. From the video store, Miles sees his girlfriend Maggie in the arms of another guy. He is shocked, as she told him that she would be in Santa Fe on an extended film shoot and would not be in L.A. for this Christmas Eve. He runs out of the store to find out the truth and realizes that she has betrayed him. Both return to Amanda's house, where they discuss their tendencies to fall for people that they know are wrong for them, and grow closer for it. Since they are now both single, they allow their natural chemistry to flow a little more, and they grow closer and hang out more often. But one day while Miles & Iris are eating lunch together, Maggie calls Miles and wants to see him. Miles leaves to see her, but promises to come to Arthur's award ceremony that night. Iris goes back to Amanda's, where she is shocked to find Jasper. Iris is touched at first, but then asks if he is still engaged. When he responds that he is, she finally breaks up with him for good. Meanwhile, Maggie tries in vain to convince Miles to forgive her. He realizes that Maggie was never meant for him and he can never trust her anymore. He breaks up with her and rushes to attend Arthur's award ceremony.

Iris and Arthur arrive at the ceremony and are very surprised to find the hall filled with people all standing and applauding for his achievements. That, plus the song that Miles wrote especially for Arthur for this moment, gives him the confidence to walk onto the stage unassisted. Miles arrives and asks Iris for a date on New Year's Eve. Iris responds that she will be back in London by then; however, Miles says, "I have never been to London." Iris responds that she would love to spend the evening with Miles.

Meanwhile, Graham confesses his love for Amanda on the night before she is scheduled to depart for L.A. But Amanda despairs that if she stays in L.A. and he in London, the long distance relationship will never work. She insists that this be the end, but on her way to the airport, she cries for the first time since she was fifteen years of age. She realizes that her feelings for Graham are more powerful than her fears and returns to the house to find Graham crying. Amanda tells him that she has decided to stay until New Year's Eve with him, and they hug knowing that this is just the beginning.

The movie ends in Graham's place. Iris with Miles and Amanda with Graham and his daughters enjoying the New Year laughing and dancing.

Cast

Cameron Diaz as Amanda Woods, a Los Angeles trailer editor. A fan of Meyers' work, Diaz signed on after reading parts of the script. Meyers, who envisioned casting her still during the writing process, compared Diaz' performance in the film to Goldie Hawn, complimenting her adeptness at physical comedy: "It's really hard I think to be that cute and sexy and that funny and that sort of girl-friendly [..] She seemed absolutely the right choice for a California girl," she commented.
Kate Winslet as Iris Simpkins, a society column editor for The Daily Telegraph. Winslet was hand-picked by Meyers, who wrote all of Iris' lines with her in mind. A fan of Meyers' previous work on Something's Gotta Give (2003), Winslet, then primarily known for her portrayals in period films, "loved the idea" of playing a contemporary English woman in a romantic comedy, a genre she had not done before. Winslet said she had initially felt "nervous and [...] scared about trying to be funny" at times. In preparing for her role, Winslet watched screwball comedies from the 1940s, such as His Girl Friday and The Philadelphia Story, to study the dialogues and performances.
Jude Law as Graham Simpkins, Iris' brother. Portraying a book editor and single father, Law accepted the role as he was interested in playing a type of character that he had never played on film before. After his appearances in a string of period dramas and science fiction films in the early to mid-2000s, Law found it tricky to approach the contemporary role of Graham. Like Winslet, the actor stated, he felt more vulnerable about playing a character who fitted his own look and did not require an accent, a costume or a relocation. Meyers, who was not immediately sure if Law was going to fit into the genre, sent him a collection of Clark Gable movies to prepare the performance that she wanted in The Holiday.
Jack Black as Miles Dumont, a music composer and affiliate of Ethan. As with Diaz and Winslet, Meyers specially created the character for Black after watching his performance in the musical comedy film School of Rock (2003). Cast against type, he felt "flattered [and] a little bit nervous" about Meyer's approachal to star in a rom-com, though he eventually agreed to sign on upon learning that he would play opposite Winslet. Meyers described Black as "tremendous fun" on-set.
Eli Wallach as Arthur Abbott, Amanda's neighbor, whom Iris befriends.
Shannyn Sossamon as Maggie, Miles' girlfriend and aspiring actress.
Edward Burns as Ethan Ebbers, Amanda's boyfriend.
Rufus Sewell as Jasper Bloom, Iris' on-and-off affair.
Caroline Crimmins as Beatrice, Amanda's co-worker

Extended Simpkins family include Miffy Englefield and Emma Pritchard as Sophie and Olivia, Graham's daughters, respectively. The film also cast Bill Macy as Ernie and Shelley Berman as Norman, friends of Arthur, as well as Kathryn Hahn as Bristol and John Krasinski as Ben, Amanda's employees. Jon Prescott appears as Maggie's short-time affair.

Dustin Hoffman appears in the video rental store in an uncredited cameo as Jack Black talks about the score from The Graduate. According to Hoffman, this was unscripted and unexpected. He was going to Blockbuster for a movie, saw all the light and came over to see what was going on. He knew director Nancy Meyers, who scripted a short scene with him in it. Lindsay Lohan, who had made her motion picture debut in Meyers' remake of The Parent Trap (1998), and James Franco, a friend of Meyers, make uncredited appearances in the trailer of the fictional movie Deception, which Amanda and her team finish at the beginning of The Holiday.

Production

Location

Production on The Holiday began in Los Angeles, then moved to England for a month before completing filming back in California. Principal photography began in the Brentwood area on the Westside of Los Angeles, where real Santa Ana winds reportedly gave Meyers and her team a winter day as warm as scripted in the screenplay. Although Amanda's home is set in Brentwood, the exterior scenes at the gated property were actually filmed in front of Southern California architect Wallace Neff's Mission Revival house in San Marino, a suburb adjacent to Pasadena. Neff had built the house for his family in 1928. The interiors of Amanda's house were filmed at Sony Pictures Studios in Culver City. Other Los Angeles locations included Arthur's house in Brentwood and Miles' house, designed by Richard Neutra, which is situated on Neutra Place in L.A.'s Silver Lake area, near downtown.

The UK part of the film was partially shot in Godalming and Shere, villages in the county of Surrey in South East England that date back to the 11th century.

Reception

Critical response

The critical consensus was summarized by Rotten Tomatoes as: "while sweet and somewhat touching, lacks any surprises and eventually overstays its welcome" with Rotten Tomatoes rating it 46% based on 130 reviews. Metacritic gave the film a rating of 52% based on 31 selected critics, based on what it called mixed or average reviews.

Box office

The film opened at #3 in the U.S. Box Office raking in $12,778,913 in the weekend of December 8, 2006. The film grossed $205,135,175, worldwide, and is considered a financial success. According to Box Office Mojo The Holiday made over $200,000,000 gross at the global box office, with $63,000,000 of it made in the United States and Canada.

Soundtrack

The official soundtrack contains music by various artists, Heitor Pereira and Hans Zimmer, and is released on the Varèse Sarabande label.

Track listing

"Maestro" by Hans Zimmer - 3:53
"Iris and Jasper" by Hans Zimmer and Lorne Balfe - 3:24
"Kayak for One" by Ryeland Allison - 1:30
"Zero" by Hans Zimmer and Atli -rvarsson - 2:44
"Dream Kitchen" by Hans Zimmer and Henry Jackman - 1:35
"Separate Vacations" by Hans Zimmer, Lorne Balfe and Imogen Heap - 1:47
"Anything Can Happen" by Hans Zimmer and Heitor Pereira - 0:48
"Light My Fire" by Hans Zimmer - 1:14
"Definitely Unexpected" by Hans Zimmer and Lorne Balfe - 3:34
"If I Wanted To Call You" by Hans Zimmer and Atli -rvarsson - 1:50
"Roadside Rhapsody" by Hans Zimmer and Henry Jackman - 1:39
"Busy Guy" by Hans Zimmer and Henry Jackman - 1:28
"For Nancy" by Hans Zimmer, Atli Orvarsson and Lorne Balfe - 1:27
"It's Complicated" by Hans Zimmer and Imogen Heap - 1:00
"Kiss Goodbye" by Heitor Pereira and Herb Alpert - 2:33
"Verso E Prosa" by Heitor Pereira - 1:59
"Meu Passado" by Hans Zimmer, Henry Jackman and Lorne Balfe - 1:25
"The 'Cowch'" by Hans Zimmer, Heitor Pereira, Lorne Balfe and Imogen Heap - 2:42
"Three Musketeers" by Hans Zimmer, Heitor Pereira, Lorne Balfe and Imogen Heap - 2:44
"Christmas Surprise" by Hans Zimmer and Lorne Balfe - 2:32
"Gumption" by Hans Zimmer, Atli Orvarsson and Henry Jackman - 3:45
"Cry" by Hans Zimmer, Lorne Balfe and Heitor Pereira - 2:39
"It's a Shame" by the Spinners

In the video rental store, Miles (Jack Black) sings the theme tune of Driving Miss Daisy by "Hans". Hans Zimmer also composed and produced the score for The Holiday. Jack Black later spoofed the movie in Be Kind Rewind.
According to a radio interview on BBC Radio 1, the song "Kill the Director" by The Wombats was written about this film. From the lyrics "this is no Bridget Jones" and according to the radio interview, they hated the film, and hence decided to write a song about it.