Last Holiday [Blu-ray] by Paramount

Actors

• Queen Latifah
• LL Cool J
• Giancarlo Esposito
• Timothy Hutton
• Michael Nouri

Format

• Anamorphic
• Color
• Dolby
• Subtitled
• Widescreen

Editorial Review

Queen Latifah demonstrates her loose, easy charm in Last Holiday, a remake of the 1950 comedy with Alec Guinness. Though at first glance it's hard to imagine anyone less like Alec Guinness than Queen Latifah, they both communicate a world of inner thought with nothing more than a sly sideways glance. Georgia Byrd (Latifah), a department store employee, leads a life of frustrated desires–particularly for a bashful salesman from the outdoor furnishings department (LL Cool J, Deep Blue Sea). But when she learns she only has a few weeks left to live, Georgia gathers her money, quits her job, and flies to a swank European resort she's always dreamed of visiting. Naturally, her new carelessness with money and fearless candor lead everyone around her–including her senator (Giancarlo Esposito, Do The Right Thing) and her former boss (Timothy Hutton, Ordinary People)–to think she's a mover and shaker. Last Holiday unfolds the way you expect it to (dozens of movies and TV shows have similar plots), but Latifah and the capable cast keep it alive. Also featuring Alicia Witt (The Upside of Anger), Jane Adams (Happiness), and the ever-dependable Gerard Depardieu (Cyrano de Bergerac) as a passionate chef. –Bret Fetzer