Musings of a Medical Misfit

Ang gwapo ni Jude Law.

Those were the very first words uttered when the movie ended - by my companion.

And he’s a guy.

The Holiday is an endearing, light film about two successful women - Amanda and Iris- who are both on the verge of emotional breakdown. Desperately needing escape, they meet on a home exchange website and impulsively agree to swap houses for two weeks.

Cameron Diaz plays Amanda, a highly-stressed woman from LA who rakes in the big bucks with her very successful movie trailer-editing company. Iris is a neurotic, spineless writer for The Telegraph. Both have lovelorn predicaments - Amanda’s live-in partner confesses to sleeping with his secretary while Iris harbors unhealthy unrequited affection for her fellow writer who apparently only loves her editing skills.

Raring to escape, the very next day they fly to the opposite sides of the Atlantic - and the story begins.

The Holiday is a typical romantic comedy - expect incredible mush, hot cocoa, dogs, snowflakes, cute children, warm tingly feeling…the works. I love Iris’ quaint picturesque house, but I also wouldn’t mind spending a few weeks in Amanda’s huge LA mansion complete with swimming pool. So Hollywood.

Diaz does alright, no surprise there since this is a role she can play in her sleep. I love her outfits, especially that gorgeous black top she’s wearing when she accidentally meets the kids. Oh, and can anyone really run through snow wearing sky-high designer stilettos?

Jack Black plays Miles, a music composer for Hollywood movies, who can’t believe that he is dating a gorgeous actress. He started off fine - until he did a High Fidelity. While I’m sure everybody was amused by his crazy antics at the video store, that just about ruined it for me. I think Black can be a serious actor, I really do, but unless people stop expecting him to dish out the same crazy, eyebrows-raising, face-contorting antics he’s known for all the time, he’d be stuck doing the same goofball role over and over.

Jude Law is hand…no, he’s beautiful. Absolutely beautiful. Definitely even more beautiful than Cameron. Forgive me for not having a concrete opinion regarding his acting as Graham, the widower with two beautiful children, because while I think he does great, I’m not entirely sure I’m not biased. That lovely face sure distracts me.

Now Kate, she nails this. There’s no other way of saying it. There is an unmistakable vulnerability and honesty to her portrayal. Such a fine actress, that Kate Winslet.

And no, the fact that I loved her as Clementine and Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind remains one of my ultimate favorite movies do not have anything to do with this.

But the real gem of the movie is, handsdown, Elli Wallach. He is brilliant and endearing as the Oscar-winning screenwriter Arthur Abbott. I love how he wittily banters with his friends using words like half-dead and bedpan among others. Runner-ups would be Miffy Englefield as Sofia and Emma Pritchard as Olivia, Graham’s two adorable daughters.

The plot maybe a no-brainer, but with the warm, natural dialogue, Winslet’s heartfelt vulnerable acting, and the unbelievable chemistry between Diaz and Law, it sure wins.

I love Drew Barrymore. I love her in Ever After, Never Been Kissed, The
Wedding Singer, Riding in Car with Boys, 50 First Dates…I love Drew
so much I instructed my pamangkins to call me Ate Drew.

I
also love Hugh Grant. As if it’s not enough that he won the genetic
lottery, the man’s also a fine, fine actor. Grant was endearing as the
meek, introverted bookshop owner William Thacker in Notting Hill,
brilliant as the UK Prime Minister in Love Actually, and oh-so-yummy as
the asshole book publisher Daniel Cleaver in Bridget Jones.

And so I went inside the cinema, planted my butt in my seat and waited to fall.

And waited.

And waited.

And waited.

Music
and Lyrics is about Alex Fletcher, an 80’s has-been, and Sophie Fisher,
a heart-broken woman who takes care of his plants and who Alex
accidentally discovers has a knack for writing lyrics. Together they
compose a song for Cora Corman, the Shakira-slash-Britney-pre-Kfed pop
sensation, and they fall in-love in the process.

My one beef about this film is, as much as I love Drew and Hugh, together they’re just blah.

Zero
chemistry aside, Music and Lyrics is a delightful albeit formulaic
film. I love how it started with Pop’s ancient music video, and how
every so often, you’d see Alex Fletcher’s butt gyrating to 80’s pop
songs - btw, I still think his Love Actually Risky Business stint is
better. Hugh has so many witty lines that you’d wish they’re spaced
apart - sometimes, you still haven’t recovered from the last, and then
another comes along.

As always, Drew is unpretentious,
incredibly cute, and a joy to watch. And in the restaurant scene where
she wore that slinky red plunging silk dress, she looked like she
underwent boob-reduction surgery. Or did she just lose weight?

Haley
Benett’s cute, and effective as Cora Corman. Oh, and although my
teenage years were spent rocking to Suede, Pearl Jam, and the
Eraserheads, I must admit, the music was fantastic - and it sticks. I
mean, who didn’t leave the cinema humming Pop Goes My Heart?

All that, and it still failed to make me swoon.