Leading Ladies: January 2006

Last Holiday

Stars: Queen Latifah, LL Cool J, Gérard Depardieu
Director: Wayne Wang
Rating: PG-13

This week's female critics can't agree on whether or not the movie is good. But they love the leading lady in Last Holiday, a remake of a 1950 flick about a man ‑- in this case, a woman, played by Queen Latifah ‑- who vows to live life to the fullest after being diagnosed with a fatal disease.

Entertainment Weekly's Lisa Schwarzbaum calls the movie "a chaste and tepid remake;" however, the Chicago Tribune's Jessica Reaves says, "We may know exactly where we're going, but the journey is so much fun, all but the most peevish audience members will find it impossible to complain."

The New York Times's Manohla Dargis says the flick is "as witless as it is formulaic," while USA Today's Claudia Puig says, "The movie cliches are bearable mainly because the cast rises above the formulaic material. There are also some bona fide laughs to be had once the setting switches to a luxurious resort in the Czech Republic."

Meanwhile, the Austin Chronicle's Marrit Ingman says, "I can tell you in two words why to see this movie, which is otherwise an unspecial Cinderella farce... and those two words are: Queen Latifah." And the Atlanta Journal-Constitution's Eleanor Ringel Gillespie calls the show "a pleasant trifle made far better than it should be by [Queen Latifah's] effortless charm and expansive spirit."

Female consensus: The dysfunctional Holiday is passable because of the Queen's presence

next : In limited release