Boring, over-political, tech fuzed mess

It's fun, it's light, [but] it has a hard time when its tries to get heavy.

Strong acting helps the film overcome an uncertain premise and create characters that hold our attention absolutely.

This is a coming of age storyline that you've seen in one form or another for decades. It takes a truly unique voice to make yet another one worth watching.

When i started this movie i thought: ¨This is going to be another of those movies¨ you know ¨Just Silly¨cause it starts like you will die soon even thought you haven't had any symptom, so better enjoy whats left of your life, but seeing how much she is enjoying the food, the comfort of her room and the risk she takes, you will end up loving it, cause it is made to be enjoyed and to make you realize how life is supposed to be lived, just piece by piece, enjoying every little good moment.

Last Holiday starring Queen Latifah and LL Cool J is very fun, cute, and enjoyable. Queen Latifah freaking owns this movie! And the hilarious lines and great script helps her own it! This is a very warm hearted film to just sit down and enjoy! The movie manages to juggle being both funny and very warm hearted and sweet at the same time, and does it very well. The visuals here are great too, beautiful landscape views! LL Cool J is also very enjoyable here. The movie is very well written, well acted, and is very fun to watch, especially around Christmas time! I love the goings on in the movie, everything just works together very well in Last Holiday! It also teaches a good lesson and pushes a very good message. Live for the day, don't waste any time, you only live once! I think if you want a cute fun good time with a bucket of popcorn and the TV, then this the one for you to watch! 8/10 for last holiday

"Last Holiday" is one of my guilty pleasures. I watch every time I come across it.I won't go into plot details at this late date, but I will say that Latifah's performance is charming, sweet, and pretty much flawless.LL Cool J gives a surprisingly warm performance, and Alicia Witt more than rises to the occasion. She takes a stock character and gives it real depth and dimension. Kudos to Alicia.The other supporting players range from adequate to very good. Timothy Hutton, although playing a stereotypical "bad guy," manages to give his character a few good moments.The only let-down, is a comparatively weak ending. Don't get me wrong, the ending is not terrible, and it does wrap up the story, but I can picture several ways it could have been better.All in all, "Last Holiday" is well worth a look.

Originally published on Jan. 10, 2006:You may have begun to think that after such flops as "Taxi," "Bringing Down the House," "Beauty Shop" and "Barber Shop," Queen Latifah's film career peaked with her Oscar- nominated performance in "Chicago" in 2001. That opinion may change a little after viewing her latest effort, "Last Holiday," a cute comedy about a dying woman who goes on a spending spree during her last few weeks on Earth.Basically, it's a remake of the 1950 Alec Guinness film (he was better), as well as Jerry Lewis' "Hook, Line & Sinker" (1969) in which he runs up thousands of dollars in expenses following a terminal diagnosis.Latifah is Georgia Byrd, a quiet, single, New Orleans woman who works as a sales representative in the cookware department of a local department store. She's always dreaming of a better life, as well as the affections of a co-worker, Sean Williams (LL Cool J).She's lonely and shy, and even keeps a book of "Possiblities" in which she places notes and photos of her fondest desires. An accidental bump on the head, though, causes her cautious world to come tumbling down as an MRI reveals that she has the fatal "Lamingham's Disease," a previously undiagnosed malady that gives her just three weeks to live.Faced with her own upcoming mortality, and the fact that she has salted away a considerable sum of cash, Georgia decides to take the trip of her dreams, the Grandhotel Pupp in Czechoslovakia.There, she somehow charms her way into the hearts of a U.S. senator (Giancarlo Espisito, "Derailed"), a congressman (Michael Nouri, "The Terminal"), a world famous chef (Gerard Depardieu), and the mistress of the department store's owner (Alicia Witt, "The Upside Of Anger").Only the sleazy mogul, Matthew Kragen (Timothy Hutton, Oscar-winner for "Ordinary People") sees through her, but she bungles through, excelling at snowboarding – even though she has never done it before – and bank-jumping off a huge dam. Finally, Sean (who somehow had enough cash on hand to do so) makes the Transatlantic journey to find his beloved, about the same time as her doctor, Gupta (Ranjit Chowdhry), discovers some important news. Premise is pretty silly, considering Georgia is only given three weeks to live (which seems a pretty short duration), plus, she seemingly has an endless supply of funds for a department store sales rep.In one particularly ridiculous scene, she complains about flying economy class, asks how much it costs to be in first class, and, in the next scene, is flying up front. The slapstick sequences (including Georgia hurling down a ski slope out of control and wiping out Kragen and a dozen others) are also pretty lame.Overall, though, the film is basically harmless, silly and entertaining. It won't win any awards, but it is a decent diversion for January, and that's not such a bad thing.