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Review #4 of 365
Film: Last Holiday [PG-13] 111 minutes
WIP: $10.50
When 1st Seen: 14 January 2006
Where Viewed: Regal Cinemas Parkway Plaza 12, Tukwila, WA
Time: 5:25 p.m.
Review Dedicated to: my Mom
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DVD |
Ever since Bringing Down the House, I have been a huge Queen Latifah fan. I would have seen this movie whether I loved the preview—which I did—or not. She has really found her groove in comedic films, and in Last Holiday, she is absolutely sensational. I adored her from the first to the final frame. She is, at last, a real movie star. High praise, but then again, she is the Queen. At this point, I feel the need, to take a step back in time, and tell you about a little movie I reviewed in 1983 called Flashdance. I wrote my review and turned it in. I gave it high praise. I was chastised by my editor and by the teacher advisor at the time, Ms Brenda Haggard. I was told that I had given the movie too high praise. “Flashdance, you’ve got to be kidding us, this movie will never amount to anything.” My review was published as it was. Well, what a feeling I have now, right? Flashdance spawned a dance craze, a new form of fashion, launched the careers of Irene Cara and Jennifer Beals (whether it was she who danced or not), and an entire genre of movies where music became important to a film whether it was a musical or not. Let me say that Last Holiday, on the surface, is a great holiday comedy. They should have released it in December as we could have used a little humor in the midst of Munich, Memoirs, and King Kong. There is your usual down trodden character who overcomes adversity with a lot of fun along the way. Queen Latifah is a dynamo at this kind of comedy. But the reason I brought up my Flashdance review above and the real reason I loved Last Holiday are because there is something going on below the surface in both films—whether the high brow critics want to recognize it or not. You can see Last Holiday and not tap into it if you choose, just like you can go see Flashdance to see not-Jennifer Beals dance. Last Holiday, deep down, is a story about believing in yourself and your ability to overcome the fears that society instills in us, ingrains in us, that we cannot ever really be who we want to be. The fundamental key to our economy is that there will be tons of little people working just hard enough to earn just enough money to buy all the stuff that advertises show us we need to be cool, successful, happy little workers and to pay all the taxes needed to subsidize all of the companies making stuff we don’t need to be cool, successful, and happy but, rather, safe from evil countries hell bent on depriving us of our realistically futile existence. Therefore, Georgia Byrd, Queen Latifah’s character, should work the rest of her life in the cookware dept. at Kragen’s Department Store in downtown New Orleans rather than follow her dream of opening a little bistro and severing her ties of working for corporate America. God forbid, she use her talent and be involved in doing something she truly loves because if she tries it, she’s likely to fail since we all know that only10% of new restaurants in America succeed or so they tell us every six months in the newspaper lest we forget our place in the order of things. Deep down, Last Holiday is about really living life, following your heart and your dreams, and not succumbing to the fear of failure. This is a concept that we don’t take home too often from the movies. Our success in life should be measured by how good we were to others/how much we contributed back to our civilization, how many of our own fears we overcame, and how true we were to ourselves. These are what really matter most. Georgia Byrd is a woman who knows this deep down, but must take her last holiday to really set the feeling free. If you feel at all like you don’t know what you’re doing with your life, see this film. Go home from it with a new plan and a new lease on life. I know I did.
Dale & Thomas 6.5-gallon Gift Tin - Hall of Fame KettleCorn
Dale & Thomas 6.5-gallon Gift Tin - Chocolate Chunk N'Caramel
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Dale & Thomas 6.5-gallon Gift Tin - Ragin' Cajun
Dale & Thomas 6.5-gallon Gift Tin - Hall of Fame KettleCorn,
Sweet Georgia Pecan and Ragin' Cajun Combo
Now Available for Purchase on DVD
Last Holiday (Widescreen Version) [DVD] (2006) DVD
Last Holiday [DVD] (2006) DVD
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