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| The Holiday | 
 enlarge | Director: Nancy Meyers
Actors: Cameron Diaz, Kate Winslet, Jude Law, Jack Black, Eli Wallach
Studio: Sony Pictures
Category: DVD
List Price: $19.94
Buy Used: $4.84
You Save: $15.10 (76%)
New (59) Used (58) Collectible (3) from $4.84
Avg. Customer Rating:  271 reviews
Sales Rank: 102
Format: Ac-3, Color, Dolby, Ntsc, Subtitled
Languages: English (Original Language), English (Subtitled), Spanish (Subtitled), French (Subtitled), French (Dubbed), Spanish (Dubbed)
Rating: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Number Of Items: 1
Running Time: 136
Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.2
Dimensions (in): 7.6 x 5.4 x 0.6
MPN: COLD17382D
UPC: 043396173828
EAN: 0043396173828
ASIN: B000MQC9H4
Theatrical Release Date: December 8, 2006
Release Date: March 13, 2007
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Product Description
Studio: Sony Pictures Home Ent Release Date: 10/23/2007 Run time: 138 minutes Rating: Pg13
Amazon.com
As a pleasant dose of holiday cheer, The Holiday is a lovable love story with all the Christmas trimmings. In the capable hands of writer-director Nancy Meyers (making her first romantic comedy since Something's Gotta Give), it all begins when two successful yet unhappy women connect through a home-swapping website, and decide to trade houses for the Christmas holiday in a mutual effort to forget their man troubles. Iris (Kate Winslet) is a London-based journalist who lives in a picture-postcard cottage in Surrey, and Amanda (Cameron Diaz) owns a movie-trailer production company (leading her to cutely imagine most of her life as a "coming attraction") and lives in a posh mansion in Beverly Hills. Iris is heartbroken from unrequited love with a cad of a colleague (Rufus Sewell), and Amanda has just broken up with her cheating boyfriend (Edward Burns), so their home-swapping offers mutual downtime to reassess their love lives. This being a Nancy Meyers movie (where everything is fabulously decorated and romantic wish-fulfillment is virtually guaranteed), Amanda hooks up with Iris's charming brother Graham (Jude Law), and Iris is unexpectedly smitten with Miles (Jack Black), a super-nice film composer on the downside of a failing relationship. --Jeff Shannon
Extras from The Holiday 
First Look Featurettehigh bandwidth
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Film Clip: "Sushi for Two"high bandwidth
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Film Clip: "Oh Brother"high bandwidth
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Stills from The Holiday (click for larger image) Beyond The Holiday on Amazon.com 
On Blu-ray | 
CD Soundtrack | 
The Films of Nancy Meyers |
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| Customer Reviews: Read 266 more reviews...
 Nancy Meyers' best film to date! March 14, 2007
55 out of 67 found this review helpful
Two women. Two failed relationships. Two houses. One great romantic comedy. The Holiday is the story of two women, Iris (Kate Winslet in a poignant performance) and Amanda (Cameron Diaz), who swap houses for two weeks thinking it will help them get over their relationship problems. Amanda will take Iris's house in a small cottage just outside of London, and Iris will stay at Amanda's house in L.A. They will both meet someone who will help them mend their heart.
Let's get one thing out of the way: Yes, this is a chick flick, but a damn fine one at that! I'm not much of a fan of the genre, nor of Nancy Meyers' films, but when I saw this in theatres with my girlfriend last December, I loved it. I thought the film would've lost some of its charm on second viewing, but it hasn't lost one bit of it. With a running time of 136 minutes, you'd think it would drag but it feels like a 90-minute film.
The film has a few surprises and most of all, a great subplot around Arthur's (screen veteran Eli Wallach in a brilliant performance) character. The film goes back and forth between the two relationships, the one in the UK and the one in the US, which gives it a great rhythm. Nothing seems forced and it doesn't fall into the typical cliches of the genre. The dialogue is very well written, kudos to Meyers for that. The characters are interesting; Winslet (my favorite actress) shines in her role as Iris, the girl who falls for the wrong man. I usually avoid movies starring Cameron Diaz and/or Jack Black like the plague, but they were both really good in that one. Jude Law brought some class to his role. The supporting cast was very good (keep your eyes open for a cameo by a famous actor in the video store).
Overall, The Holiday is a very enjoyable film and you don't have to love romantic comedies to enjoy it. It's closer to Something's Gotta Give than What Women Want, and it's much better this way. Check it out, you won't be sorry!
ROMANCE ROMANCE December 10, 2006
50 out of 67 found this review helpful
For fans of Nancy Meyers (writer-director, SOMETHING's GOTTA GIVE, WHAT WOMEN WANT...), you are in for a big time treat. This movie is so wildly, over-the-top romantic that it will put you in a state of romantic delirium. You may never want to come back to the light of day after sitting in the movie theatre with Kate Winslet (never more beguiling), Jude Law (never more impossibly handsome), Jack Black (never more vulnerable) and Cameron Diaz (never more gorgeous). The Christmas card plot offers plenty of moist-eyed moments as well as flat-out laughs. I can't remember the last time I loved a sappy movie this much...maybe STEPMOM came close. Merry Holidays to all...enjoy!
Excellent - Two Movies in One December 6, 2006
34 out of 42 found this review helpful
Cameron Diaz and Kate Winslet star as women who are simultaneously suffering from man troubles, and want to get away for a while for the holdays. Through a web site, they agree to swap homes for the holidays - Amanda (Cameron Diaz) ends up in a storybook cottage outside London, while Iris (Kate Winslet) finds herself in an L.A. mansion.
The movie unfolds as two movies, cutting back and forth between their stories. Amanda meets Iris's brother, Graham (Jude Law), who turns out to be unexpectingly different than any other man she's ever met. Meanwhile, Iris meets Miles (Jack Black), a funny goofball of a guy who helps Iris lighten up and stop pining for the man who will never love her.
The First Romantic Comedy Masterpiece of the 2000s February 28, 2007
15 out of 18 found this review helpful
I don't think this decade has had much success with romantic comedies, but trust me that with "The Holiday", the 2000s have never looked better. I consider this film to be one that extracts the finest performances from Jude Law, Kate Winslet and Cameron Diaz EVER, and once you see it, you will know what I mean.
Kate Winslet has acted in many good movies ("Hideous Kinky", "Holy Smoke", "Iris") but its ironic that her most poignant and well-written role comes in "The Holiday". You probably know the story already - its about two women on two different continents who swap houses and lives after a chance meeting on the Internet - but the treatment and above all, the DIALOGUE, is what drives this romantic comedy to the heights of that most rare animal - a cinema classic.
And thats what "The Holiday" is. I honestly think that a genuine, feel-good film such as this should be embraced by the Oscar group, instead of their focus on typical epic films such as "Babel" and "Gladiator". This is where the magic is. Cameron Diaz especially, has never found a better vehicle for her goofy charm (yes, this is even better - staggeringly better than "There's Something About Mary"). Jude Law, who has had his share of incredible dramatic performances in films such as "Wilde" and "Alfie", uses his effortless charm and natural screen presence to radiate such magnetism, that he is undeniably the most spot-on best romantic lead you would have seen for a while.
Audiences I saw this with claimed that "The Holiday" was at least twice as better than "Pretty Woman". No comparison. The films I consider really good romantic comedies would be "Never Been Kissed", "A Life Less Ordinary" and "Theres Something About Mary". However, "The Holiday" is all that, but the amazing thing is that it has a heart of gold and does NOT rely upon slapstick humor to make the dialogue and situations work.
Kate Winslets' character in fact, is one worth coming back to and studying, even from a film students' perspective. She infuses her role with so much wit and warmth, that we do not mind if this girl even ends up single in the movie - we just want her to find herself. The scene where she dumps her boyfriend after three years of emotional abuse is absolutely wondrous - the actress glows and gives off such electric spark that its impossible not to FEEL for this beautiful character.
Jack Black, in a superb cinematic role as a Hollywood music industry biggie, is never meant to be taken seriously as a love interest for Kate, much as some would like to think so. Their sad tale is of two people in two different bad relationships finding a friend again - I loved how the end of this movie did not strive to hurriedly bring two people together - rather, it allows space for the characters to breathe and live their emotions, which is why its so easy to take this film seriously, and which is why you MUST watch it.
Finally a film worth buying! I have waited so long for a movie of such depth, grace and respect for the art of film-making.
There are so many amazing scenes here - Kate in her quaint cottage trying to commit suicide (a poignant moment filled with humor and grief all at the same time), Kate waking up in the lap of luxury in Los Angeles, the initial meeting between Cameron and Jude and their wondrous chemistry, the moment where they realize they are in love with each other, the moment where Cameron meets Jude's kids, and her ultimate realization that her selfish, unloving persona has been undone by this mans' love - and the scene where she leaves it all behind to run back to the person she loves the most. There are SO many such moments during this movie. Consider this a return to form for Hollywood in general.
I would especially like to thank the makers of "The Holiday". I don't know if any of them read Amazon reviews, but as a critic of film, I find it so hard to like so many of the "serious" films out there today. Most of them are made to win Oscars, and then there are those tailormade to win Academy Awards. Either way, they're made to win something. And then you have the disposable comedies of the "Scary Movie" variety. But a film such as this makes me realize that the glory days of the 1950s and 60s of Hollywood still exist.
I must also state here that I only saw this film because I saw that it starred Kate Winslet. This is one actress that has never let me down throughout her amazing career - and to find that she gave her best ever performance in this film made me all the more happier. She takes a beaten down, funnily written character and transforms her into a woman of great intelligence and feeling - this is NOT Bridget Jones' Diary!
Which is why its obvious why these stars signed up for a movie such as this. On the face of it, "The Holiday" is a two-story arc that converges into one in the end - about the love lives of two very different women. But it is so much more than that - in fact, it is a meditation on love and hope in this day and age.
If my praise seems extravagant, all I can say is, buy this. Do not rent it, buy it. It is the pinnacle of working excellence for all three major stars - Jude, Kate and Cameron, and it is by far the best romantic comedy of the 2000s by a long shot. Also, I find it hard to believe that anything more amazing than this would be released anytime this year.
Highly Recommended. Five Stars. Hollywood finally redeems itself and gets it right.
 Unbelievable! July 25, 2007
14 out of 18 found this review helpful
Unbelievably bad. So, I'll admit, the Rom-Com genre really isnt my thing, but hey, my wife gets half the Netflix, so we settled down to watch, and unfortunately waste our time on, this movie. I can't get that hour and a half back folks, and I'm pretty mad about it.
Its as if the creators of the Not Another Teen Movie/Scary Movie films got together and decided to make Not Another Romantic Comedy. Every single bad romantic comedy cliche is in there:
You've got the solo-singing. You've got the angry, throwing-objects mood swings. You've got the too-good-to-be-true swinging single-dad bachelor. The cheating boyfriend. The "crazy" supportive friends. I've seen this movie before, just not all at once, as it is truly a formulamatic representation of all that is bad in this type of movie.
...and we are supposed to suspend reality and believe Jack Black is a mild, tame, abused romantic? Who are you, and what have you done with the insane half of Tenacious D?
Avoid like the plague.
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