The Holiday: Always on my holiday-watch list

Movie Review: The Holiday (2006) on Hulu

If you're looking for light-hearted film fare over the holidays, go directly to The Holiday. We've come to rely on this rom com from 2006 for laughs and heart-tugs like we did Love Actually from 2003, only this is easily more watchable and feeling slightly less chaotic. Give it a try if you haven't already (on Hulu.com and Amazon.com). 

The Holiday has two professional women, played by Cameron Diaz and Kate Winslet, with troubled love lives skipping town (and men) for the holidays by swapping homes. Kate leaves her cozy cottage in Surrey England, Cameron gives up her luxurious layout in Los Angeles, hoping to bury their troublesome relationships behind them for the next two weeks. And after a few mix ups on first arrivals, things seem to go really well. Until Cameron meets Kate's handsome and available brother, played by Jude Law, and Kate meets Cameron's advertising jingle composer suddenly newly available, played by Jack Black. We've never seen Jack Black as a love-interest actor, but he's very likeable in this role. Add to the mix Cameron's elderly next door neighbor, played by Eli Wallach, who is retired, lonely, and just needs a little respect and love. 

This is an adorable film with no bump-your-head-on-the-ceiling-beam message, just good comedy and romantic fun that happens to take place during the Christmas to New Years holiday--like Love Actually and Die Hard and, recently, Love Hard. Honestly, I don't know how you can miss watching this film made simply to sit back and enjoy. I'd rate The Holiday A+ for Always on my holiday-movie list.

The Mountain Between Us: Redeeming Message and Sweeping Vistas, but Plodding Plot

Movie Review: The Mountain Between Us (2017)
Version: Library borrow

It was never going to be an award-wining film, but The Mountain Between Us gets points for having a socially redeeming message and sweeping vistas. The lead actors (Idris Elba and Kate Winslet) are pretty good, too. However, the writing isn't spectacular and the plotting is plodding.

Ben Bass (Idris Elba) is a heart surgeon trying to get back from a conference to do an emergency surgery. Alex Martin (Kate Winslet) is a socialite photographer trying to get home for her pending marriage. A snow storm upends both their flights home so they arrange a private plane flown by aging pilot Walter (Beau Bridges) to take them over a mountain and homeward bound. Only, Walter suffers a debilitating stroke and crashes the plane high in the wilderness. From here on out, it's not a matter of will they get home in time for their important business but will they get home at all. It's them against nature and the cold of winter in the mountains.

Add to that dynamic are the cultural divides. He's a doctor and she's a socialite. He's been married that she senses is keeping a secret from his wife, she's about to be newly married. He's Black, she's White. Multiple conflicts arise as they try to stay alive and find rescue. What they come to find instead is a close relationship that threatens to upend their lives if they ever find a way out of the wilderness.

The Mountain Between Us isn't the most exciting movie ever filmed. It has great scenery, but some of the situations seem a bit contrived and, on many levels, too good to be true. And the ending is eye-roll silly. Die-hard romantics will likely eat it up, but if you're a diabetic, be sure to keep your insulin handy. Fair warning!

The only good thing I can say about this film is, they signed good talent. Ibis and Winslet are good to watch squirming through the dialog and scenes struggling through deep snow and cold water. Sorry to be so negative, but I just need to be honest. This was not a film I enjoyed watching.

Collateral Beauty: Mostly Window Dressing to Get You to the Surprise Ending

Movie Review: Collateral Beauty (2016)
Version: Library borrow

In Collateral Beauty, Howard and Whit partner to create a successful advertising agency, along with the sweat and dedication of Claire and Simon. But when Howard suffers the death of his very young daughter, he retreats from reality and life, putting in peril all that he, Whit, Claire, and Simon have built. Nothing anyone tries to do to help him resolves Howard's deep sorrow. Howard's destructive behaviors begin to affect business to the point that the agency is about to collapse, and Whit decides to sell it rather than have it fail. To do so, Whit has to be able to prove that Howard is mentally incompetent to make the decision on the sale. With the uneasy assistance of Claire and Simon, and the help of three stage actors and a private detective, Whit sets out on an intervention to either bring Howard to his senses or provide the proof he needs.

This film takes a lot on its shoulders to make a point, a point attempted to be made in its title. But the execution comes in the telling, and that's where it comes up short. You have to think long and hard to fit the pieces of the puzzle together, and as obscure as the title is and as strange as the pieces of the puzzle are, it's easy to fumble with the point of the story. The themes are Love, Time, and Death, portrayed by the three actors that Whit employs for the intervention. But it is never really clear how those themes fit into the death of the daughter and how Howard deals with it. Moreover, the title, "collateral beauty" doesn't begin to explain either the desired outcome or the achieved outcome of the story, even though it is referenced at the beginning and end of the film. This is, unfortunately, a scripting problem. The story line is too complex, the writing too evasive.

What is good about Collateral Beauty is the acting. Will Smith puts on an emotional tour de force as Howard, the grieving father. Naomi Harris is riveting as Madeline, the grief counselor but who turns out to have a surprising connection to Howard. Helen Mirren is delicious as the actor portraying Death, Jacob Latimore puts on a strong performance as the actor portraying Time, and Keira Nightley is winsome as the actor portraying Love. Edward Norton as Whit, Kate Winslet as Claire, and Michael Peña as Simon are good as well. Their performances bring a depth to the story that makes up for what the writing fails to provide.

I've read a few explanations for the meaning behind the title in an attempt to understand it. The surprise ending probably best sheds light on everything, but if you have to wait till the last minute for the "Aha!" moment, then the film has failed. All the rest is window dressing simply to get you to the end. In this sense, I believe you will likely find yourself scratching your head looking for its meaning right up to the end and wondering why you sat through everything else.