Last Holiday

Queen Latifah leaves behind her 'street' persona in Last Holiday

Herald rating: * * *

Queen Latifah lifts her game after the disastrous Taxi and average Beauty Shop, stealing the show with a warm and surprisingly engaging performance in this run of the mill tragi-romantic comedy.

Last Holiday, a remake of the 1950 Alec Guinness film, is directed by Wayne Wang, responsible for a diverse range of films from the critically acclaimed The Joy Luck Club to the fluffier Maid In Manhattan. Last Holiday will appeal to fans of the latter.

Latifah steps out of her normal "street" role and into more sensitive shoes as shy, conservative department store clerk Georgia Byrd.

Georgia is a sweet, hardworking, generous person, who cooks a gourmet meal for her neighbour every week, but eats a lean cuisine one herself. She has a book of "Possibilities" which holds all the dreams she is too scared to follow, and is far too self-conscious to ask out her co-worker Sean (LL Cool J), who obviously thinks she is just fine.

Diagnosed with a life-threatening brain disease and given a month to live, Georgia finally decides to do something for herself, quits her job, liquidates her bonds and heads off to a five-star hotel in Czechoslovakia to pamper herself and meet her idol, Chef Didier (Gerard Depardieu).

Georgia meets a varied assortment of new people, becomes forthcoming with her opinions, observes the world around her, buys a new wardrobe, and gives a whole lot of new things a crack; just what you'd expect from a woman with three weeks to live.

There are slapstick moments which have to work hard to get a rise out of the audience, heartfelt moments that you can feel coming a mile away, and a conclusion that is obvious from the beginning. Somehow, though, Last Holiday, through its formulaic predictability, is so inoffensive it puts a smile on your face.

CAST: Queen Latifah, Alicia Witt, LL Cool J, Giancarlo Esposito, Gerard Depardieu
DIRECTOR: Wayne Wang
RUNNING TIME: 112 mins
RATING: PG, contains low-level offensive language
SCREENING: Village, Hoyts and Berkeley cinemas