"They do a little bit and you know what happens? They sort of fall in love." I don't think I've heard Kermode do that faux cosy-cutesiness voice again. He needs to because it's amazing.
I agree. I'm shocked that Kermode is so positive about RomComs when he seems to hate this film because it is one! He's knocking the plot, the characters, the acting, and the setting when he has said that in a RomCom, none of that matters!
There’s a moment in this movie were the elderly Jewish retired screen writer says ‘this Hugo Boss cuts a nice suit’ 🤔 Given Mr Boss’s Nazi tailoring affiliations I found this very misjudged.
It was awful. The film itself isn't too bad when it focuses on the Black-Winslet relationship. I believed in their story and found it quite charming. But the Diaz-Law side is really dull.
I was wondering why this came up in my recommendations after I’m watching horror reviews for Halloween. I think comparing it to video nasties helped push it up there
Maybe it's because it's still the festive season, or maybe because it's 2020 and we all need something to take our minds off the constant doom and mind-numbing horror of this year, but I watched this tonight and loved it. I'll say it again, I loved it.
The tragedy is that Mayo cut Kermode off just when he was going to mention Jude Law wearing the napkin on his face, which was the most excruciating part of the film. Having said that, I enjoyed it, but then I did see it the day after New Year’s Day 2007, which was possibly the only time of the year you could enjoy The Holiday. How lovely was Kate Winslet in this film though? She pretty much saved it.
Yes, this film is fluff. Yes, it's totally unrealistic. Yes, the people in it are caricatures and bear no relation to real human beings. But you know what? THAT DOESN'T MATTER! What Dr Kermode doesn't realise is that this film is meant to be watched at Christmas, with someone you love, and it's designed to make you feel happy when it ends. It's not The Exorcist, or Citizen Kane, or bloody Love Actually, and it doesn't try to be. It's a feel-good movie that has a happy ending and sometimes that's all you need. And my favourite film is Blade Runner.
Bravo man 👏🏼 I’m a massive film buff myself. Love BR2049, American History X, Prisoners, etc. Watched this film over the weekend and loved it and have been shocked at the bad reviews it got back in its day. It’s entertaining, charming, pulls on the heartstrings… has a fantastic score, decent charming actors… It does baffle me when people watch a rom com like this get in a tipsy turvy about it… surely they knew what they were signing up for, to a degree, before they pressed.. play? Judge it on its own merit, not against/compared to a thought-provoking hard hitting drama
this film gives me nightmares I actually went to see it with two couples I know......but its like watching a car crash...you cant take you eyes off it....its was a truely horrible experience.
love this review I have the film ,and I agree that the length of the film is indeed to long ,and the funny factor wears off quite quickly . this is a predictable love story that really needs a follow on film to see how the story continues on .. it is unrealistic sickly sweet but for those that do love the film ,this needs a follow on film because it feels like the story isn't played out do iris and miles fall madly in love does Amanda and Graham fall in love and marry ? where does the story go ?? great if you love romcon if not you probably find it too lovey dovey and over romantic ...
this crap doesn't need a sequel! you need to care about the characters because they're complete and worth caring about. If I write "jim meets daisy and hmm maybe there are a few sparks and some potential there!" do you really need to find out what happens next? It's irrelevant
Thats right ,you do care about the characters ,in particular iris ,she is in love with jasper bloom and he gets engaged right in front of her and to make matters worse iris,s gaffer at her newspaper ,wants her to be the first to write about a whirlwind work romance . iris loves jasper and goes abroad to L.A to try to fall out of love with him . meanwhile Amanda is annoyed at Ethan ,for sleeping with a girl who has a crush on him .the two girls swop houses jobs and cars for two weeks and find romance when they were least expecting it . I warmed to iris I liked her a lot thing is did she go onto to marry miles ? Did Amanda ,marry Graham ? What happened to their careers once they had found love ? This film has lots of good storyline for a follow on film this really needs a sequal ..did the girls get their happily after or did they continue on and return to their homes and careers as before the house swop ? I would love to see iris be happy especially . what about Ethan ? Did him and Amanda get back together and reconcile ? What about Graham's daughters ? How are they getting on ?can we have a follow on film please ?
Wouldn't it be great to see iris happy ,I'd love for her to marry miles ,after all maggy cheated on miles and let's face it ,iris is a much better girlfriend for miles ,than Maggy was .
narnia ...? I think he gives this film a bad review ;( it's an OK film not to bad really a bit long an hour would have been enough I think. its a bit rough around the edges but it's a good film
Disappointed Dr. K. didn't point out the fact that they had the cheek to cast dear ol Eli Wallach as the "old codger," making the speech about hollywood's golden age even more horribly ironic by having one of said golden-age's finest exports delivering it!
I am disappointed that Dr. K. doesn't recognise or appreciate that "The Holiday" is an extremely clever and witty postmodern romantic film that is itself about romantic films. The review is hilarious and I am glad I heard it, but not one of your most insightful assessments, Mark.
The film might be far from being a masterpiece but it's definitely not as awful as Kermode is trying to make it sound. Mark clearly has some kind of prejudice against it.
I have to disagree with his review. I thought it was very enjoyable and charming. Certainly not a horrible pastiche as Kermode makes out. The Black/Winslet stuff was good.
he's smart enough to know the difference between personal taste and bias. I agree with him on just about every film. One thing he doesn't like are lazy, cheap laughs (not relevant for this shite film) whereas I do like them - you don't need intellectual comedy always
I'm sooo happy Jack Black has disappeared back into the mephitic mists of Hell whence he slithered with his "band" many long seasons ago. It makes me feel warm and cozy knowing that in just a few more years people will turn to each other and wonder, "Hey, I just remembered that fat little toad with the evil eyes that briefly had his day in the sun. Oh, what was his name?"
Is it necessarily a bad film if it gives women what they want? It's not what we want and it's a load of tripe but it's their escape, as vacuous as it is.
"It desperately wants to be Love Actually, but it is Toilet Actually."
One of the best things I've ever heard Dr Kermode say, ever.
Ever.
"it desperately wants to be Love Actually, it is Toilet Actually" thank you Dr K!
"Kate Winslet works at a very very little job for the Daily Telegraph but she appears to earn enough money to live in Narnia." 😄😄
"A threat to your bodily health." This is one of Mark's greatest reviews. Hysterical from start to finish.
If you cut it to 88 min it would be vomit inducing
"They thought that funny is that thing that makes you stop living"
Sheer genius.
"They thought funny means 'the thing that makes you want to stop living'."
Mark actually referenced Cannibal Holocaust when reviewing The Holiday 🤣🤣
such an overlooked underated rant!
The Holiday is just a big budget Hallmark movie.
"They do a little bit and you know what happens? They sort of fall in love."
I don't think I've heard Kermode do that faux cosy-cutesiness voice again. He needs to because it's amazing.
BEST review ever!!!! "Hair! Teeth! Hair! Teeth!"
He's from Narnia... Hilarious!
This is one of kermodes funniest. Severely underrated. Should be as famous as sex and the city 2 etc.
Mark Kermode is probably the only person in the world to compare The Holiday with Cannibal Holocaust.
The Cannibal Holiday
You guys are heartless! One of my two favorite holiday movies!!
I usually agree with Kermode on most films but I really loved the mind numbing properties of this film. Sometimes you just need a bit of fluff.
This is the most underrated comment ever I completely agree
I agree. I'm shocked that Kermode is so positive about RomComs when he seems to hate this film because it is one! He's knocking the plot, the characters, the acting, and the setting when he has said that in a RomCom, none of that matters!
Every Christmas, I put this on instead of the actual film.
I was drinking when, "She's from Los Angeles, he's from Narnia", spat out all on my trackpad lol
one of dr. kermode's finest rants
I fucking love The Holiday 😂
There’s a moment in this movie were the elderly Jewish retired screen writer says ‘this Hugo Boss cuts a nice suit’ 🤔 Given Mr Boss’s Nazi tailoring affiliations I found this very misjudged.
That clip made my stomach collapse in on itself. Christ.
It was awful. The film itself isn't too bad when it focuses on the Black-Winslet relationship. I believed in their story and found it quite charming. But the Diaz-Law side is really dull.
You wouldnt want to be stuck in narnia with cameron diaz? Just me then
I was wondering why this came up in my recommendations after I’m watching horror reviews for Halloween. I think comparing it to video nasties helped push it up there
This is gold!
"movies like the holiday make people into bad violent people" 😂
I don't think I've ever known a film just die on screen as much as during the Jude Law and Cameron Diaz scenes. Torturous.
The Holiday is my favourite Christmas film and one of my favourite films in general. I’m disappointed Mark didn’t like it
Maybe it's because it's still the festive season, or maybe because it's 2020 and we all need something to take our minds off the constant doom and mind-numbing horror of this year, but I watched this tonight and loved it. I'll say it again, I loved it.
Me too
I watched this at Christmas 2023 and it made me want to slash cinemas and burn them to the ground. Brilliant review by Kermy.
Cary Grant is from Bristol.
The tragedy is that Mayo cut Kermode off just when he was going to mention Jude Law wearing the napkin on his face, which was the most excruciating part of the film. Having said that, I enjoyed it, but then I did see it the day after New Year’s Day 2007, which was possibly the only time of the year you could enjoy The Holiday.
How lovely was Kate Winslet in this film though? She pretty much saved it.
Carry Grant was from Bristol
So Dr Kermode - is it better than The Excorcist?
Over 2 hours?!?!
Classic Kermode
DIDNT LIKE LOVE ACTUALLY VERY MUCH?!
+rarnas what's so clever about it? the non-stop overtly fluffy music??
Yes, this film is fluff. Yes, it's totally unrealistic. Yes, the people in it are caricatures and bear no relation to real human beings. But you know what? THAT DOESN'T MATTER! What Dr Kermode doesn't realise is that this film is meant to be watched at Christmas, with someone you love, and it's designed to make you feel happy when it ends. It's not The Exorcist, or Citizen Kane, or bloody Love Actually, and it doesn't try to be. It's a feel-good movie that has a happy ending and sometimes that's all you need. And my favourite film is Blade Runner.
Bravo man 👏🏼 I’m a massive film buff myself. Love BR2049, American History X, Prisoners, etc.
Watched this film over the weekend and loved it and have been shocked at the bad reviews it got back in its day. It’s entertaining, charming, pulls on the heartstrings… has a fantastic score, decent charming actors…
It does baffle me when people watch a rom com like this get in a tipsy turvy about it… surely they knew what they were signing up for, to a degree, before they pressed.. play?
Judge it on its own merit, not against/compared to a thought-provoking hard hitting drama
they thought funny meant the thing that makes you stop living
So what if Iris lives in Narnia? It’s a feel-good Christmas film for goodness sake, it doesn’t have to be entirely realistic!
Than you
Hm. I thought he liked Love Actually.
Me too, I was surprised to hear that.
this film gives me nightmares I actually went to see it with two couples I know......but its like watching a car crash...you cant take you eyes off it....its was a truely horrible experience.
love this review I have the film ,and I agree that the length of the film is indeed to long ,and the funny factor wears off quite quickly . this is a predictable love story that really needs a follow on film to see how the story continues on .. it is unrealistic sickly sweet but for those that do love the film ,this needs a follow on film because it feels like the story isn't played out do iris and miles fall madly in love does Amanda and Graham fall in love and marry ? where does the story go ?? great if you love romcon if not you probably find it too lovey dovey and over romantic ...
this crap doesn't need a sequel! you need to care about the characters because they're complete and worth caring about. If I write "jim meets daisy and hmm maybe there are a few sparks and some potential there!" do you really need to find out what happens next? It's irrelevant
Thats right ,you do care about the characters ,in particular iris ,she is in love with jasper bloom and he gets engaged right in front of her and to make matters worse iris,s gaffer at her newspaper ,wants her to be the first to write about a whirlwind work romance . iris loves jasper and goes abroad to L.A to try to fall out of love with him . meanwhile Amanda is annoyed at Ethan ,for sleeping with a girl who has a crush on him .the two girls swop houses jobs and cars for two weeks and find romance when they were least expecting it . I warmed to iris I liked her a lot thing is did she go onto to marry miles ? Did Amanda ,marry Graham ? What happened to their careers once they had found love ? This film has lots of good storyline for a follow on film this really needs a sequal ..did the girls get their happily after or did they continue on and return to their homes and careers as before the house swop ? I would love to see iris be happy especially . what about Ethan ? Did him and Amanda get back together and reconcile ? What about Graham's daughters ? How are they getting on ?can we have a follow on film please ?
Wouldn't it be great to see iris happy ,I'd love for her to marry miles ,after all maggy cheated on miles and let's face it ,iris is a much better girlfriend for miles ,than Maggy was .
narnia ...? I think he gives this film a bad review ;( it's an OK film not to bad really a bit long an hour would have been enough I think. its a bit rough around the edges but it's a good film
Disappointed Dr. K. didn't point out the fact that they had the cheek to cast dear ol Eli Wallach as the "old codger," making the speech about hollywood's golden age even more horribly ironic by having one of said golden-age's finest exports delivering it!
I think he liked it.
I thought Kate Winslet's story was interesting while Cameron Diaz's and Jud Law's story made me puke dog turds.
hahaha
The Holiday did indeed turn me into a bad, violent person. At about the 2 1/2 hour mark, once I realized it still wasn't done.
I kind of liked the film! lol And I hate Rom-Coms! In fact - I really don't like Love Actually either! this was way better than Curtis' worst film.
so mark you enjoyed it then
I am disappointed that Dr. K. doesn't recognise or appreciate that "The Holiday" is an extremely clever and witty postmodern romantic film that is itself about romantic films. The review is hilarious and I am glad I heard it, but not one of your most insightful assessments, Mark.
The film might be far from being a masterpiece but it's definitely not as awful as Kermode is trying to make it sound. Mark clearly has some kind of prejudice against it.
I have to disagree with his review. I thought it was very enjoyable and charming. Certainly not a horrible pastiche as Kermode makes out. The Black/Winslet stuff was good.
I loved The Holiday. I think Mr Kermode has prejudices that will always spoil certain films for him.
he's smart enough to know the difference between personal taste and bias. I agree with him on just about every film. One thing he doesn't like are lazy, cheap laughs (not relevant for this shite film) whereas I do like them - you don't need intellectual comedy always
It's not that bad
Worst review ever this film is fantastic and much loved by everyone i know
This is hilarious. The Holiday has to be one of the worst films ever.
One of the worst films I've ever seen. Makes me ill thinking about it.
I'm sooo happy Jack Black has disappeared back into the mephitic mists of Hell whence he slithered with his "band" many long seasons ago. It makes me feel warm and cozy knowing that in just a few more years people will turn to each other and wonder, "Hey, I just remembered that fat little toad with the evil eyes that briefly had his day in the sun. Oh, what was his name?"
Bad Take
Appalling film. The actors' glazed-eyes tell a tale. Nothing redeeming about it whatsoever.
Is it necessarily a bad film if it gives women what they want? It's not what we want and it's a load of tripe but it's their escape, as vacuous as it is.
"BING!"
The Holiday is crap, and it's long crap, no romantic comedy needs to be that long
Jack Black in a romantic role.....terrible
:)