Last Holiday Review (2006) – Happy New Year! This is an uplifting film about embracing life and your true self!
Happy New Year!!
We hope that the New Year brings nothing but good things to all of our dear readers! It has been a tough few years to say the least, and we have our fingers crossed that this New Year will bring a lot of healing to the world as well as to all of us as individuals.
In honor of healing in the New Year we are going with another favorite of ours, Last Holiday. This is a movie that can be cheesy at times, and it is predictable but it is also an incredibly heartwarming film. We always enjoy watching this one around this time of year as it helps to remind us that being genuine and living your life authentically is the always the best route to take!
We will do everything we can to not give too many spoilers in this review but there are likely to be some, so please take that into consideration and read cautiously.
The picture begins with an introduction to our main character Georgia Byrd, (Queen Latifah), at church singing so quietly she can barely be heard. This sets the tone for her character. She is a bright and lovely person, but she is also extremely repressed. She silences herself and polices herself far too much.
We found Georgia’s character to be very relatable. Who hasn’t felt pressure to silence themselves? Who hasn’t felt small and insignificant at some point in their lives? We can deeply understand where Georgia is at and it is a quiet desperation that permeates her character.
Georgia works for a major big box store in the cookware section. Cooking is a huge passion of Georgia’s and as a result she is an exceptionally good salesperson as she gives beautiful demonstrations with the cookware.
In the evenings, she cooks gourmet meals, enjoys cooking shows, and just immersing herself in her passion for food. But, does not eat a bite of the delicious meals she creates as she is on a diet.
This hit one of us potatoes in particular close to home. Cooking beautiful food, and not eating any of it. It is extremely saddening and we do not recommend!
While Georgia is cleaning up after a demonstration, she finds herself talking with her love interest, Sean Williams, (LL Cool J). Feeling flustered she drops some cooking items and in her attempt to gather them she manages to hit her head. She hits her head HARD.
She loses consciousness, so Sean carries Georgia to their in house clinic. It is here that she discovers a hidden terminal illness and she is told by doctors that she only has at most a month left to live and there is nothing that can be done!
Deeply and profoundly upset Georgia returns home. While at home she goes through her “possibilities” book. This book represents all of the things that she was hoping for her future as well as containing photos of all of the wonderful meals she has cooked over the years.
She tries to have a conversation about her diagnosis with her boss, but loses her patience with him as he is a truly insufferable person. Georgia is feeling done with being quiet and polite. She quits her job and we cheered.
From there she decides that she is going to cash her 401-K, her bonds, all of it and go on her dream vacation to the Grand Hotel Pupp in Karlovy Vary, Czech Republic. This is where her favorite Chef of all time Chef Didier, (Gerard Depardieu) works magic in the hotels kitchen.
When Georgia arrives to the hotel she creates quite the splash as she lands on the roof in a helicopter! The hotel is gorgeous, and we love to watch Georgia take it all in. We know we would be gob smacked a bit by that ceiling as well!
Georgia spends her first day updating her frumpy wardrobe and walks into the restaurant for dinner looking absolutely stunning! She wows everyone around her even further by ordering the entire menu. She wants to try every item and Chef Didier never uses the same menu twice!
She attracts the attention of another party of people who are visiting the hotel, Matthew Kragen the owner of the chain of box stores that Georgia rightfully quit from, and sharing a table with him is his mistress Ms. Burns, (Alicia Witt), Senator Dillings, (Giancarlo Esposito), and Congressmen Stewart, (Michael Nouri).
Chef Didier is delighted that someone ordered the entire menu for themselves! He greets Georgia at her table to express his appreciation, and discuss the food.
Kragen is put off by this as he was expecting Chef Didier to come straight to their table as he had requested. Kragen is an obnoxious man, who is exceptionally entitled, greedy, controlling and competitive.
Georgia enjoys herself without a single care for Kragen or his group.
The film progresses with Georgia coming into her own, trying new things, impressing people with her cooking skills, getting into some hijinks and indulging in as many spa treatments as she can!
Kragen is perplexed by Georgia. He is used to getting his way, having all of the information, and controlling everything and everyone around him. He struggles with Georgia’s magnetism, openness, humility, and boldness.
Georgia is done being quiet! Her confidence bolsters the people around her. She grows and encourages others to do the same by leading by example. Georgia fully embraces not just life, but herself. We love this for her and we thoroughly enjoyed watching her intrinsic and extrinsic transformation!
We will leave it here so as to not give any more of the film away!
We really enjoyed this movie. Is it predicable? Yes. Is it original? Not really. Is it sweet, inspirational, well-cast, well-acted, well-written and overall a fun time? YES.
The message of the film may be one that we have heard many times, but we personally think that not all films that try to send this message do so half as well.
Don’t wait too long. Don’t wait too long to start living your life for yourself. We all can get so caught up in the daily grind. In the hustle that is life. We can get lost in it. We can lose sight of ourselves, our goals, values and what truly brings us peace.
Georgia not only gets back in touch with who she is, but she finds peace within herself as herself. It is such an easy thing to lose and so difficult to gain back. Not impossible! But it is hard work. Completely worth it though!
The only quibble we would have for this movie is that true behavioral change takes longer than the movie truly gives it, but it is easy enough to overlook as Georgia is on limited time because of her illness.
There is also the general predictability and cheesiness of the film. But sometimes we all need a little cheese and we need the reassurance of the predictable.
Overall this is a light film that is again, easy to predict but it is so well done that it is unlikely that you will care! We highly recommend this movie! This movie is a good one for New Years as it reminds us to work harder to honor our true selves in the New Year as well as having a New Year’s celebration within the film!
If you are someone who enjoys movies that are good light fun, inspiring, and sweet then this is a movie you will not want to miss!
We truly hope all who read this had an amazing New Year’s Eve and all the luck in the world in the New Year! Happy New Year!
We give this movie…4 glasses of champagne out of 5!
Last Holiday Drinking Game
Take a sip anytime:
1. You hear gospel music
2. Georgia talks to God
3. Georgia Cooks
4. We get a glimpse of Georgia's "Possibilities Book"
5. Anyone mentions "Kragen"
6. You see Kragen's face on a magazine, etc.
7. Dr. Gupta is anxious
8. You hear a foreign accent
9. Kragen makes an ass of himself
10. Kragen is competitive
11. Kragen is actively an asshole
12. The Senator is creepy or flirtatious
13. Chef Didier and Georgia are on screen together
14. Georgia does something bold or badass
15. Georgia looks gorgeous
16. Georgia gets a spa treatment
What did you think?? Did you like the movie? Did you hate it!? Do you have suggestions for films we should consider?! Let us know here in the comments and always remember to be safe and drink responsibly!