2006’s Last Holiday is another one with a cult following. This one’s a cheesed-up Hollywood remake of an old 1950 Alec Guinness picture and is an uplifting, if overly sentimental tale of trying to live your life to the fullest before it’s too late. If Hollywood films have taught us anything, it’s that there’s nothing like an impending visit from the Grim Reaper to prompt us to start tackling that ‘bucket list’ with gusto. I can see why people love it – it’s a ridiculously easy watch, despite dealing with heavy themes about mortality and skips along in such a buoyantly enthusiastic way that a happy ending is never in doubt.
Yup, even as the doctor is nervously advising poor Georgia (Queen Latifah) that she’ll be dead in three weeks, I feel compelled to shout “Nah, she’ll be okay!” Queen Latifah is unusually reserved here as the shy, overly-cautious New Orleans department store worker who, after an embarrassing workplace mishap, discovers she has a previously undetected rare brain disease. She carefully counts calories, dreams about travelling but never takes chances, like telling gorgeous co-worker Sean (L. L. Cool J) how she feels about him. The script takes great care to present her as a thoroughly lovely person, just too shy and reserved to jump into life feet-first.
Following her diagnosis, Georgia throws caution to the wind, chucks her job, cashes in her savings and jets off to the Czech Republic on the holiday of her dreams to live it up for her final days. No longer caring about what people think of her, Georgia swings from shy and retiring to sassy, no-bullshit mode, telling everyone exactly what’s on her mind. Though the first half hour of the film is incredibly touching, the moment Georgia arrives in Karlovy Vary it all gets overly treacly with a lot of broad humour. Georgia has a ball base-jumping, snow-boarding and such, in some silly set-pieces that feel much more slapstick than the rest of the film.
Overall, it’s warm-hearted, unchallenging stuff with a nice message about appreciating what we have while we have the chance. That’s a very Christmassy idea, isn’t it? And, don’t worry, it does have a happy ending.
So, there’s less than ten days left and I’m thoroughly exhausted with it all. I have very much enjoyed committing to this ridiculous challenge but I’m now very conscious that it is both physically and mentally doing me in. Christmas time is busy as it is, without forcing oneself to get out of bed at 6am to watch Last Holiday before work. It’s enjoyable, sure, but is all becoming a bit of a chore.
As I’ve mentioned, (some) Christmas movies can be uplifting and a wonderful, calming tonic to a hectic lifestyle but only really if you can afford the time to watch them. I’m discovering you really can have too much of a good thing, though saying that, lots of these films are rubbish.
I sometimes stop and ask myself, given the chance, would I commit to doing this all over again? Hell no. This has been a major lesson in discipline and finding the conviction to get the job done by really pushing myself.
Though this whole thing seems absurd, I feel proud that I’ve proven to myself that I can do more with my days, even if it is seriously weird. Oh, and I’m absolutely smashing it at the work’s Christmas quizzes, so that’s something. Even if I am getting some odd reactions at my obscure knowledge of Cindy Lou Who and Home Alone 3.
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