(Hmmmmm… this home exchange thing is intriguing… a little fucked-up, but also intriguing…)
CAST: Cameron Diaz, Kate Winslet, Jude Law, Jack Black, Ed Burns, Rufus Sewell, Eli Wallach, Shannyn Sossamon.
DIRECTOR: Nancy Meyers
WARNING: Some SPOILERS and ridiculously expensive last minute transatlantic airfare…
In the late 90’s, bestselling novelist Maeve Binchey published the exceedingly lovely novel “Tara Road.” It revolves around two emotionally-wounded women - one Irish and the other, American - who exchange homes during a fateful summer. In doing so, they unexpectedly find themselves rejuvenated not only by the change of scenery, but also by the new network of friendly (and not-so-friendly) faces in their orbits.
“Tara Road” was turned into a movie in 2005 starring Andie MacDowell and Olivia Williams. Just like the novel, while it wasn’t perfect, it was a warm and likable account of two lost souls finding their way back to the land of the living by engaging with others. It didn’t hurt that Ms. MacDowell and Ms. Williams are two lovely and talented actresses who make the journey worthwhile.
And then there’s THE HOLIDAY, director Nancy Meyers’ latest glam-fest about privileged chicks and their love life woes. Released about six years after “Tara Road” was published, and about a year after TARA ROAD the movie was released, THE HOLIDAY covers the same territory: two emotionally-wounded women - one American, one British - exchange homes in hopes of triggering a life-change. The only difference is THE HOLIDAY takes place over Christmas. Oh, and the women are younger and blonde.
Whether or not “Tara Road” inspired THE HOLIDAY, I will leave up to you folks to discuss. What I will say is this: THE HOLIDAY is basically TARA ROAD in finer, flashier garb. Our two lovelorn chicks are: (1) Amanda (Cameron Diaz), a hot but brittle L.A. trailer-producer (as in: movie previews) whose boyfriend Ethan (Ed Burns) has been cheating on her with his receptionist (very imaginative, E.); and (2) Iris (Kate Winslet), a meek London journalist who has got serious googley eyes for Jasper (Rufus Sewell), an asshole ex-boyfriend who’s been stringing her along.
Amanda, refusing to spend Christmas alone in L.A. decides to go on home-swapping site to find a place in England so she can… spend Christmas alone there. In a cold, clammy place where she doesn’t know a soul. How did Amanda get so successful again? Anyhow, turns out Iris has her cottage listed on the site - and just like that, she and Amanda make a deal with the Real Estate Devil and hop on criss-crossing transatlantic flights.
Let me just come out and say that I really think Amanda gets the raw end of the deal here. While Iris’s cottage is lovely in a Kinkade painting sort of way, it also looks just a little bigger than my flat, with a roof that seems a sneeze or two from caving in. Meanwhile, Iris gets to hunker down in Amanda’s L.A. domicile, which looks like the bastard child of the Guggenheim museum and an issue of Architectural Digest. And it’s about as big as the building that I live in. How’s that for balance?
Whatever. Soon enough, our ladies get comfy in their new (temporary) abodes. As you can imagine, Iris is just ecstatic about having a place as big as the Chinese Theatre all to herself. Amanda, on the other hand, tries to console herself with being stuck in what amounts to a Hansel and Gretel type of cabin. Either that, or she really just likes to drink a lot of wine.
Fortunately, things start to look up for Amanda when she makes the acquaintance of Graham (Jude Law). Actually, I should rephrase that, because to make someone’s acquaintance means you say “Hello, how are you?” and make pleasant chit-chat. You don’t usually fuck their brains out. Which is what Amanda does. Yes, folks… our lovely Amanda succumbs to the Vacation Courage Syndrome. You know how you go on holiday to some exotic, far-flung place and become so brazen and seductive you don’t even recognize yourself anymore? And you basically end up becoming irresistible catnip to everything and everyone around you because of said newfound brazenness (is that a word?)? Which means you end up, well, getting a lot of action? Well, that’s what happens to our dear Amanda. This syndrome is also known as What Happens In [INSERT TRAVEL DESTINATION HERE], Stays In [INSERT TRAVEL DESTINATION HERE].
In the meantime, across the pond in the U.S., Iris is almost as busy. To wit, she: (1) meets a lovely older man named Arthur Abbott (Eli Wallach), a retired screenwriter who has loads of memories of Golden Hollywood; and (2) Miles (Jack Black), a charming if a little rotund movie music composer. Iris strikes up a friendship with both men, which is fine if we’re just talking about being friends. Unfortunately, as romantic prospects, both of these guys are not exactly promising. For starters, Arthur, while a stellar human being, is also older than the Hollywood sign. And Miles, while sweet if a little overweight, is hung up on hottie actress Maggie (Shannyn Sossamon).
While Iris is stuck in the thankless role of “Good Friend Who Isn’t Getting Any Nookie,” Amanda is busy living the role of “Horny American Overseas Who Is Getting Quite A Lot of Nookie, Actually.” Unfortunately, she and Graham make the mistake of (goddamnit) falling in love. Which poses a problem since Amanda is headed back to the City of Angels in about a week. And neither she nor Graham is exactly aces at long-distance relationships. I mean, seriously: who is?
So… will Graham and Amanda work something out? Or is their romance doomed to join the “Archives Of What Might Have Been?” What about Miles and Iris? Will Miles realize that Maggie is just using him and kick her anorexic ass to the curb? Or will he continue to allow himself to be abused in the tradition of the “Nice Guy Who Just Doesn’t Learn?” Will Iris find some gumption and fight for her man? And what about Arthur? Will he successfully mentor Iris in the way of Los Angeles men and the games they play? Will Amanda freak out when she finds out that Iris has been ransacking her DVD collection?
I would. Because unless the “home-swap” thing involves using the hot gardeners and pool guys, as well, you can forget that shit.
BUT, SERIOUSLY: Before I discovered “Tara Road” and its cinematic adaptation, I used to think that THE HOLIDAY’s premise was so cleverly original. The idea of two women “in crisis” swapping homes and then becoming healed because of it was dynamite. Of course, while I always felt that THE HOLIDAY’s execution of that idea was just a tad formulaic, I had to give it props for an original idea.
Then I found out about the novel “Tara Road” which deals with the same subject matter, but to a more satisfying degree. Now, “Tara Road” was published in the late 90’s (over five years before THE HOLIDAY was released) and even became a selection of Oprah Winfrey’s book club, so it’s not like it wasn’t well-known. Realizing that THE HOLIDAY’s premise wasn’t so original after all has made me re-assess my view of it.
While both the novel and film of “Tara Road” also deal with the life-changing influence of a home swap between two women over a fateful summer, they are not romantic comedies, per se. Rather, TARA ROAD chronicles how each woman’s network of family and friends affects, enriches, and awakens the other. As TARA ROAD’s tagline goes: “Sometimes to find yourself, you need to lose yourself in someone else’s life…” TARA ROAD is basically about triumphing over loss by reaching out and strengthening our connections to other people.
THE HOLIDAY, on the other hand, treads closer to Romantic Comedy Genre formula. Its message is that our heroines will be well again… as long as they meet a man. Which, frankly, is a bit disturbing to me. While both Amanda and Iris are portrayed as smart, capable professional women in the early going, this cool competence is sort of undermined in later scenes when “getting the guy” becomes the most important thing to them. I suppose I would like THE HOLIDAY more if I hadn’t discovered TARA ROAD and see how much better it tells the same story.
TARA ROAD goes beneath the surface of its heroines' journey, and doesn’t make “a man” their ultimate prize. In THE HOLIDAY, we’re dealing with yet another film that assures us all will be well as long as we meet “the one.” Which is highly untrue. In short, while TARA ROAD went deeper, THE HOLIDAY contents itself to rest on the surface and be cute. Only in a couple of scene involving Kate Winslet’s heartbroken Iris do we get anything approaching depth.
The first is the scene where Iris reveals to Miles her reason for leaving England for the holidays. The second - and the loveliest scene in the film - is when she escorts the aging Arthur to a ceremony to recognize his screenwriting contributions. In fact, almost all of Iris and Arthur’s scenes together soar because they focus on friendship and not cutesy romantic cliché. Iris and Arthur’s connection, as well as Winslet and Eli Wallach’s tender performances, elevates the film above the average mark.
The Iris-Miles romance is pleasant enough and quirky because Jack Black isn’t exactly who we think of as a romantic comedy lead. Unfortunately, he and Winslet have very little chemistry and their scenes together never really ignite. They come across more as brother and sister.
A little better, chemistry-wise, is Cameron Diaz and Jude Law. In the end, though, their plot thread and romance is short-changed by the constant cutting back to L.A. to see what’s going on with Miles, Iris, and Arthur. Fortunately, Diaz and Law possess just the right blend of cool beauty, hidden melancholy, and dry humor to keep us engaged. The fact that their characters try their hardest (but still fail) to be clear-eyed and unemotional about their involvement is another plus.
In the end, THE HOLIDAY is a very different film from TARA ROAD, despite the similar “home-swap” premise. THE HOLIDAY is a film determined to be a fluffy romantic comedy about unexpectedly finding Mr. Right, while TARA ROAD is an offbeat story more focused on what’s really going on within its heroines’ minds and hearts. That’s a big difference.
I will be reviewing TARA ROAD as part of another Girl Power Week at the beginning of February. It’s a lovely film that makes THE HOLIDAY look like, well, fluff.
