February 2006
Movie Reviews
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Produced by Laurence Mark, Jack Rapke. 
QUEEN LATIFAH, WHO plays Georgia Byrd, saves this mildly commonplace movie from mediocrity. Solid supporting actors that complimented Latifah's style gave depth to the shallow scripting. Latifah is quietly accruing experience outside the music industry with 29 movie roles, solidly building her résumé in both comedies and dramas. The man of Georgia Byrd's dreams is Sean Matthews, played by LL Cool J. He also has a solid résumé. LL Cool J aka James Todd Smith has some 29 feature-length movie roles to his name(s). Both have appeared on television extensively, and are musicians of some note, as well. They have some appealing moments together as the film develops. Gérard Depardieu (an impressive 140+ feature film and TV movies to his credit), also shares some strong chemistry moments as Georgia's gourmet cooking idol, Chef Didier. Alicia Witt (30+ film and TV roles) was appealing in her Role as Ms. Burns, 'assistant' to Matthew 
Kragen (Timothy Hutton, at 40+ film & TV roles). Hutton gets to be the comedic villain owner of Kragen Department Stores, and does his best with the badly pieced together characterization. So many movie pitches to producers and studios start with who's in it, and, if necessary, flubbing the fact that the story itself is thin. Writers of screenplays should develop characters and their stories, not make a story around celebrity draw of the actors. Ultimately insulting to the actors, our intelligence, also, receives a good smack in the face from the gauntlets of these sloppy filmmakers.
Hollywood, ever the name-dropping capital, keeps making these flimsy tales into feature-length movies because the casting is A-list. Last Holiday is another genre film, in a list of hundreds, which I categorize as the Mortality Epiphany genre—which includes both comedies and dramas. A person, sometimes good, sometimes bad, is told they are dying soon. Or they get dead somehow, and come back to life because they were so good, young, bad, old, vitally necessary to the timeline of our dimension. Or they are allowed to re-visit as an angel to finish something, save someone, change an outcome. Whatever. All are deeply affected and learn a moral lesson. 
Death is the ultimate, mind-bending truth. When its specter finally looms large in the scheme of things of our everyday lives—it literally changes lives. These 'what if that person were me?' characters fascinate, as they delve into a subject with which few people are rarely comfortable. I can watch from a safe distance. It's happening to the character, not me. Speaking of genres, this movie also falls into the well-intentioned Poorly Crafted American Remakes Of Really Good Foreign Films. Georgia's British namesake is George Byrd, who was portrayed by none other than Alec Guinness, in a 1950 British movie of the same name.
Given all that—Georgia Byrd was a fun, engaging character, made believable by Latifah's earthiness. Early on I liked Georgia. She was a gentlewoman, humble and generous, committed to her spirituality, her church and its choir. She worked as a salesclerk in the cookware department of the New Orleans store of the Kragen Department Stores chain. Georgia was a natural in that capacity, as her avocation was gourmet cooking. Her pastime was clipping recipes, watching cooking shows, and studying major chefs like Emeril (who made a cameo appearance), and (the fictional) Chef Didier. She cooked up sumptuous meals for her young next-door neighbor, not partaking of these meals herself as she considered herself overweight and ineligible to actually eat what she created. Georgia photographed these concoctions and carefully added them to her scrapbook stash of 'possibilities.' In this same binder, she has childlike cut & paste pictures of herself and her dream date/husband. He was part of her private vision of her possible future. Shy to the max, her visual aids might not help, even though he, Sean Matthews, also worked at the same store, in the patio department. Both were overly awkward around each other, and barely get to the point of dating when Georgia learns that her life was going to change soon—she was diagnosed with a terminal illness.
Last Holiday doesn't get too maudlin here, as Georgia moves through all the stages of grieving. A real comedic jab at HMOs resonates with anyone who has attempted to actually avail themselves of HMO services. Julia LaShae gives a genuine feel to this minor part, HMO Administrator. LaShae has nine or so roles to her credit, most of which have an interesting commonality…titles, not names, such as her first in 1998, Bar Owner, and on to Hooker, Army Dance Crooner, Breakfast Woman, New Homeowner, Scott's Mother, SPCA Officer…which is why she will look familiar, in a nagging 'who is she' sort of way. Latifah's Georgia had some clever moments with her. Also nonchalantly funny was when she thumbed through her binder of possibilities quipping, "I should have eaten that, and this…and that one, too," as the pages flopped through possibilities no longer hers to wish for in her vanishing future. 
From the title and the trailer, I know things will be looking up for Georgia shortly, and am grateful the movie rushes along through this exposition until she soars across the Atlantic in first class. Enter the robust, cozier Latifah, who kicks into contented high gear, taking quiet Georgia to town. She does such a great job; it doesn't matter about what is happening as much as how she fleshes out Georgia Byrd to a more confident, appealing character. Kudos to Director Wayne Wang for seeing Latifah as this graceful, lovely woman guys just can't stop watching. He allowed a respectful atmosphere for all his actors to make good on a shaky premise.
So, how does a sales clerk afford this jet set holiday? Her grandmother left her 'a little something.' When the front desk clerk specified the room Georgia wanted as going for $5K a night, I realized Gramma left her a considerable amount of a little something—even for a person with only a month to live. She rented a helicopter to get from the Prague Airport, as this hour and a half was too much time taken from her new hell-bent to experience as much great stuff as she can before she, you know—died. Which was why she hit the spa every day, ordered everything on the menu just to taste it all, and tried skiing, shopping, Para jumping and of all things, gambling. A tough 24/7 job, but someone had to do it.
Yes, I did mention she had begun dating the man of her dreams. How does this self-same saint manage to go off to Europe, to enjoy her last romp, without inviting said Dreamy Guy? The writers had more on their minds. They had a 'plan' that involved gorgeous locations, doing a James Bond off a very high (huge) dam with minimal instructions for accomplishing this feat, and other 'if you could see me now' pastimes. The writers apparently had no problem with this departure from her true nature. Georgia let go of her restrictions, and mixed with other guests, playfully tried on outrageous outfits while shopping, wowed and befriended the hotel staff and kitchen help. She never batted an eye when she decided, as the pro-offered daily menu wouldn't be repeated, ordered every meal. Chef Didier is so astonished by a dining room guest that doesn't want to hold the fat, substitute vegetables for the potatoes, or leave off his lavish sauces, he must meet her. They become fast friends before her head hit the pillow the very first night. Because I find Queen Latifah and Gerard Depardieu are that charismatic, I was cool with these timesaving devices. The two of them had many priceless moments together. 
What I would have liked was fewer pages devoted to Kragen, or the stereotypical portrayal of the big, bad, fraudulent, boringly self-serving, corrupt womanizer who also rapidly built the Kragen corporate empire, from scratch. I was on an armchair travel experience through Eastern Europe—who needed morality in Kragen, when few of the other characters seemed none too innocent? 
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February 2006
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