I really like Queen Latifah. I think she is very talented and beautiful and to me, she is one of the few actresses working today who actually has the gravitas of what I consider to be a true "movie star" (whatever that means). Sadly, she has really not been blessed with the best roles to work with. Other than her fabulous turn as Mama in "Chicago," most of her roles (and the movies) have been pretty forgettable. However, Queen Latifah tends to do a good job of making the most of what she is given. In this remakes of the 1950s movie of the same name, she takes over the role of Sir Alec Guinness and produces my favorite Latifah character since Mama.
That said, the movie itself could have been a lot better. I liked its message and I found a lot of it very funny. I appreciated that it did not have to result to lewd and gross gags for cheap laughs. It's a comedy of manners and false assumptions which reminds me very much of classic comedies. Although the movie does not resort to crass humor, it does make full use of cheesy humor. One scene in particular involving snowboarding felt more like something from the Disney Channel.
I really loved Latifah's character of Georgia Byrd. The chef was funny. I liked seeing Georgia learn balance in her life. My favorite scene involves a passionate prayer from Georgia at church about her illness that the rest of the congregation turns into a rousing musical number.
"Last Holiday" is fun but simple movie with a life affirming message. Although the movie begins during the Christmas season, I think the studio was wise to hold off the release until January. Following all of the "heavy" releases at the end of the year, this movie made for a nice escapist trip to the cinema.
Note: Congrats, Patricia. You beat me. After such a long hiatus, I simply forgot about writing this.
What did you think?
all this will be invisible until you click on the title
You totally forgot about Bringing Down the House. “You got me straight tripping” over the fact you forgetting about the great comedy movie that she was in with Steve Martin and Eugene Levy! You need to re watch that sometime, add it to your list to watch with Ray at the top.
I feel exactly the same way about Queen Latifah... She's a very charismatic, natural actress... particularly adept at comedy, but her dramatic scenes are always good too... She needs to dramatically improve her script sense though... Still, she is the kind of actor that makes certain movies "worth it" just because she's involved... I guess not this one, though, eh?
