Can’t get enough of the holiday spirit? Check out this week’s Movies You Have Not Have Seen But Should!

The Holiday

It’s time for a very special Movies You Have Not Have Seen But Should. In celebration of the Christmas season, I thought it’d be good to highlight a Christmas/holiday film. So this week we will look at the 2006 romantic comedy The Holiday. The film stars include Cameron Diaz, Kate Winslett, Jude Law and Jack Black.

The film focuses on the lives of two women on two sides of the “pond”. In London, there is Iris Simpkins (played by Winslett), a society column editor for the London Daily Telegram. Her job for a living is to write about the happiness of others in their love lives. Her love life on the other hand is anything but happy. She is in love with her co-worker Jasper (played by Rufus Sewell) but it is completely unrequited. Iris gets blindsided by the announcement at the work Christmas party that Jasper is getting engaged to another woman. She then goes back to her home in Surrey and ponder what she will do for holiday.

Meanwhile in Los Angeles, Amanda Woods (played by Diaz), a workaholic owner of a movie trailer company, is having problems of her own. Her boyfriend Ethan (played by Edward Burns) is cheating on her with his secretary. She wants to get away from L.A. and goes searching online for places to go. She finds a website where she can swap houses for the holidays and gets in contact with Iris and they agree to swap homes.

Both Iris and Amanda have unexpected journeys. Amanda, who wants nothing to do with men on her trip & almost is ready to leave the U.K. just as soon as she arrives, ends up meeting Graham (played by Law). Graham also happens to be Iris’ brother and a widower with two daughters. Amanda falls in love with Graham and tries to wrestle with the dynamics of being in a relationship with someone in another country. Meanwhile, Iris loves L.A. the minute she arrives. In her time there, she meets Miles (played by Black), a film composer who ends up having love problems as well. She also meets Arthur Abbott (played by Eli Wallach), who turns out to be a famous screenwriter from the Golden Age of Hollywood. Arthur helps to encourage her and build up her self-esteem while Iris encourages him to accept an honor that the film community has wanted to bestow on him for years. Do Amanda and Graham end up together? What about Iris and Miles, or maybe even Jasper? You’ll have to watch to find out.

Several actors made uncredited appearances. Dustin Hoffman makes a cameo as himself. Lindsey Lohan and James Franco are also in the film as they play the actors in the trailer that Amanda is working on at the beginning of the film. The film also features an appearance by John Krasinski, best known for his work in the U.S. version of the TV show The Office.

The film was released in theaters on December 8th, 2006. The film would go on to gross over $200 million worldwide with a budget of only $85 million.

The Holiday is available on DVD, Blu-Ray and Amazon Instant Streaming. It is one of my favorite Christmas films. If you’ve looking for a film to check out for this time of the year this is one to watch. It’s also a good romantic comedy to watch any time of the year. It’s a funny romantic film that you may not have seen, but you should.