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| Last Holiday (2006)
 
Starring: Queen Latifah, LL Cool J, Timothy HuttonDirector: Wayne Wang Rating: PG-13 Category: Comedy  |
Queen Latifah opened more than a few eyes with her performance in the award-winning musical “Chicago,” but follow-up roles in films like “Taxi” and “Bringing Down the House” have not exactly skyrocketed the former hip hop artist into the Hollywood elite. A recent Wal-Mart commercial finds the Queen forcing a female customer into buying a copy of “Beauty Shop” on DVD, and I can only imagine she’ll be doing the same once “Last Holiday” is promptly shooed out of theaters. Based on the 1950 Alec Guiness film of the same name, “Last Holiday” is as about funny as the last “Saw” movie. And for those who are keeping track, horror movies aren’t usually very funny.
Once-great director Wayne Wang (“Joy Luck Club”) has taken a “Guess Who” approach to the story by switching both the sex and race of the lead character, possibly because he believes that it lends a modern day edge to the story. Latifah stars as Georgia Byrd, a single woman from New Orleans with big dreams, but no courage to chase them. When she’s not selling cookware or ogling co-worker Sean (LL Cool J), Georgia spends her spare time preparing meals like a master chef. When a random doctor’s visit results in the diagnosis of a rare form of cancer, however, Georgia is given only three weeks to live. Quickly deciding that she would rather go out in style than sulk at home alone, Georgia cashes in her IRA and makes the trip to a grant resort in the Czech Republic featuring the famous Chef Didier (Gerard Depardieu).
Frankly speaking, two hip hop stars do not make a right, and so while the casting of both Latifah and Cool J may seem like inspired choices, it backfires with a double dose of bad acting. It’s hardly fair to blame the actors for everything, though, since a better script would have certainly made it easier on everyone, but this project was doomed from the beginning. The screenplay is atrocious, filled to the brim with set pieces that make absolutely no sense, including a scene where snowboarding novice Georgia manages to cruise down a black diamond mountain course, and another that finds her dealing with the bad news by breaking into song in the middle of church.
And Hollywood wonders why the box office is suffering. Supporting performances by Timothy Hutton and Gerard Depardieu make the film even less appealing, if that’s possible; especially Depardieu, who’s meant to be comic relief strictly because he’s the stereotypical foreign guy. No one can understand what he’s saying, and so it’s funny. Not quite, but thank god for Alicia Witt (redhead hottie alert), who’s onscreen presence made it much easier to sit through the rest of the film. “Last Holiday” was rightfully dropped in the dead zone of January, but that doesn’t mean that some people won’t enjoy it. Urban audiences, who seem to eat up everything Latifah does, will surely be amused, but I can’t help thinking that the aspiring actress has buried her career with this one.
DVD Features:
Anyone dumb enough to hand over their well-earned cash for this disaster better be prepared for a serious lack of extras, including only a couple featurettes, deleted scenes and two recipes.
~Jason Zingale
jzingale@bullz-eye.com