Eileen Kang
Helmed by acclaimed Hollywood director Wayne Wang, Last Holiday is a feel-good comedy about a woman whose entire life revolves around possibilities, only to find them morphing into realities when time starts running out for her.
Queen Latifah, whom we last saw in the 2007 remake of Hairspray, is Georgia Bryd one of those faceless employees at Kragen’s Department Store, promoting cookware, while dishing out complimentary food to the grannies watching her cooking demonstrations.
Although Georgia harbours a secret crush on fellow worker Sean Matthews (played by LL Cool J), she keeps her feelings to herself, only confiding to her “Book of Possibilities”, where she scrapbooks pictures of “possibilities” – Grandhotel Pupp, a deluxe hotel she dreams of staying in; Chef Didier (played by Gerard Depardieu), a world-renowned chef she fantasises meeting; and Emeril Lagasse, her long-time inspiration.
Then, in an alarming twist of fate, Georgia finds out she has only 3 weeks to live due to a virus. It’s with this death sentence hanging over her that she finally has enough courage to pursue her dreams and live her remaining days to their fullest, much like the characters that Jack Nicholson and Morgan Freeman portrayed in The Bucket List.
Henceforth follows a flurry of events, through which Queen Latifah shows off her flair for comedy. She takes a First-Class flight to the Grandhotel Pupp and meets the Senator (played by Giancarlo Esposito), the Congressman (Michael Nouri ) as well as big boss Kragen himself (Timothy Hutton) and his mistress (played by Alicia Witt). Although the quartet is highly suspicious and doubts her in the beginning, Georgia’s free-spiritedness and magnanimous nature eventually wins them and the hotel’s staff over.
Although Last Holiday showcases many new faces, the cast is strong, with each character slipping easily into their on-screen roles. Each role is likeable, even Kragen, the black sheep, who ends up turning over a new leaf.
Bubbly and vivacious, Queen Latifah’s larger-than-life (and we mean this not only literally) onscreen persona, which she best showed in movie musical Chicago, which earned her Oscar, Golden Globe and BAFTA nominations for Best Supporting Actress in 2003, effortlessly steals her the limelight from her co-stars. In fact, I would go as far to say that Queen Latifah was the actress holding up the film’s common storyline. Queen Latifah possesses a natural talent at tugging at the heartstrings of the audience. UrbanWire was tearing when her voice quivered, laughing when she let out a roar, and nodding in agreement whenever she launched into a speech.
The themes expressed in the film, that of “living your life to your fullest” and “pursing your dreams”, and the less than surprising twist at the end, while cliche, should resonate with Singaporeans who are constantly caught up in the rat race and allow ourselves very few moments to dream. Last Holiday serves as a poignant reminder to occasionally take a step back from life and refocus again on the things that are truly important to us.
As a film,the plot and themes expressed in Last Holiday are fairly commonplace, but Queen Latifah manages to bring the entire film up a notch. The movie is like a bowl of hot soup served on a cold and rainy night, while Queen Latifah, in her role as Georgia, is the sprinkle of spice atop.
UrbanWire gives Last Holiday 3.5 out of 5 stars
Movie Details
Screens: 10 October, 12 October, 14 October 2008
Movie Rating: PG
Running Time: 112 mins
Language: English
Director: Wayne Wang
Cast: Queen Latifah, LL Cool J, Timothy Hutton