The Holiday (Directed by Nancy Meyers)

Watched: 21st March
Starring: Cameron Diaz, Kate Winslet, Jack Black, Jude Law

IMDB link

He said
I have a soft spot in my heart for this film for the simple reason that the Jack Black character is one of the few realistically portrayed "Forever Friends" in recent history (In contrast to the film Just friends with Ryan Reynolds where the "forever friend" archetype grows up to be the forever heart breaking Ryan "Abs of a god "Reynolds)

Like Helen I think that this movie was enjoyable but could have explored other areas for greater impact. (The Winslet and Black relationship for example is almost completely ignored) The sub-plot With retired screen-writer Arthur is adorable and gives the films heart a healthy dose of needed compassion.

As an American in a relatively small English town, that has fallen in love with a British citizen, I think this film finds a place in my heart even more than it did when I first saw it in theatres and further cements it's place in my DVD collection. I give this film {{{3.5 out of 5}}}

She said

The Holiday was a cute film. It was one of those films that leaves you a little more fuzzy inside than when you started but it didn't blow me away. Although it was based on Meyer's typical humouros love dilemmas it moved away from her mid-life crises obsession (Something's Gotta Give, Father of the Bride, It's Complicated) to er... slightly-younger-crises.

I enjoyed the unlikely pairs (Kate Winslet and Jack Black... it worked but really shouldn't have) but my problem was the pace. The film dragged too long on certain scenes (the Diaz break-up scene wouldn't stop) and basically spent too long making us believe the inevitable wouldn't happen. Then guess what! The inevitable happens.

There was a subplot that was touching about honouring an old Hollywood script writer. The contrast between his quiet acceptance of his contributions contrasted to Diaz's in-your-face trailers, which she created as her profession. Diaz seeing her life as trailers was genuinely funny - I would have liked to see this used more.

I don't want to pick on this film too much. As I said, it was fun to watch, but it just didn't inspire me. I would have liked less of the ditzy character comedy and more of the light hearted sentiment that Meyer's is great at. If you like gentle rom-coms then give it a go. I give it {{{2.5 out of 5}}}

They said:
Contrary to our relatively low rating we do suggest that if you are wandering through the video rental store for something light-hearted and fun to watch that you pick this film up. We give it {{{6 out of 10}}}