A Holiday Treat

Rating: 9/10 (9 December 2006)

Normally, holiday/ Christmas films are enough to make audience members puke. However, this film is a charming delight in the holiday season.
Kate Winslet is absolutely adorable as the relate-able Iris, a victim of unrequited love, which she describes as the worst possible position in the game of love. After spending three years in love with a man who cheated on her, then continued to use her, she takes a vacation in Los Angeles to get away from the now engaged London native. She is an absolute sweetheart, genuine and flawed but with the most well-meaning heart. She befriends an elderly screenwriter, who is perhaps one of the best characters in the film. She also meets Jack Black, another person who is used to being used. Although Jack Black is fun as usual as film composer Miles, it is really Iris's journey that lights up the film. You will clap and scream with her as she begins to find her strength and dances in celebration.
On the other side, Cameron Diaz is Amanda, a wealthy business owner from Los Angeles who can't seem to commit to a relationship. After her live-in boyfriend cheats on her, she decides to take a break from men in Iris's little cottage near London. Of course, she cannot escape the other sex as she soon meets up with Iris's older brother, Graham (Jude Law). Although it seems there may be some substance to the relationship that forms between the two "complicated" characters, especially when Amanda find's out a sensitive secret of Graham's, their romance still comes off a bit shallow and uninteresting. You may root for their connection, but Amanda's character is bland and goes through little change besides returning to the world of carbs and chocolates. Jude Law is adorable, but his dream-character is a little too good looking, too sensitive and too honest to be true.
So half of the movie is absolutely wonderful. And if you are looking for something to light up your spirits like those dazzling lights on a Christmas tree, this is definitely the best film out there for you.