Last Holiday (2006 film)
| Last Holiday | |
|---|---|
Promotional poster
|
|
| Directed by | Wayne Wang |
| Produced by |
Laurence Mark Jack Rapke Robert Zemeckis |
| Written by | Jeffrey Price and Peter S. Seaman |
| Starring |
Queen Latifah LL Cool J Timothy Hutton Alicia Witt Giancarlo Esposito Susan Kellermann Gérard Depardieu |
| Music by | George Fenton |
| Cinematography | Geoffrey Simpson |
| Edited by | Deirdre Slevin |
|
Production
company |
|
| Distributed by | Paramount Pictures |
|
Release date
|
|
|
Running time
|
112 minutes |
| Country | United States, Czech Republic |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $45 million |
| Box office | $43.3 million |
Last Holiday is a 2006 American comedy-drama film starring Queen Latifah and directed by Wayne Wang. Latifah plays a humble store assistant, Georgia, who is told that she has a rare brain condition, and only a few weeks to live. She decides to spend her last funds on a luxury holiday in Europe in before she dies.
The screenplay by Jeffrey Price and Peter S. Seaman was loosely adapted from the 1950 UK film of the same name by J. B. Priestley. The writers were wanting John Candy for the star-role, but he died and Latifah’s agent suggested a new version starring her. It gained mixed reviews, but Latifah's performance was universally praised for charm and humor.
Georgia Byrd (Queen Latifah), an employee in the cookware department at Kragen's Department Store in New Orleans, is a shy, unassuming woman who longs to cook professionally, and who records her dreams of a better life in a journal labeled "Possibilities." It is the Christmas holiday season. While flirting with a co-worker Sean Williams (LL Cool J), she bumps her head on a cabinet door and is taken to the store's health center for a CAT scan. There she is told by company physician Dr. Gupta (Ranjit Chowdhry) she has several brain tumors resulting from a rare neurological disorder called Lampington's Disease. Since her HMO plan will not cover the exorbitant cost of an operation, Georgia resigns herself to the fact she has only a few weeks to live, quits her job, liquidates her assets, and sets off on a dream vacation at the deluxe Grandhotel Pupp in the spa city of Karlovy Vary in the Czech Republic.
Free of inhibitions and determined to live life to the fullest, Georgia checks into the Presidential Suite, buys a designer wardrobe in expensive boutiques, makes extensive use of the hotel's spa facilities, attempts snowboarding and BASE jumping off of a dam, enjoys succulent meals prepared by world-renowned Chef Didier (Gérard Depardieu), and wins a small fortune playing roulette in the casino. She impresses the hotel's staff, with the exception of cantankerous guest services manager Miss Gunther (Susan Kellermann), with her naive manner and forthright kindness, and mingles with some of the other guests, including Matthew Kragen (Timothy Hutton), a self-help guru and coincidentally the owner of the store where she works; his assistant/mistress Ms. Burns (Alicia Witt); pandering Senator Dillings (Giancarlo Esposito) from her home state of Louisiana; and prominent Congressman Stewart (Michael Nouri). Kragen is skeptical about Georgia's origins and suspects her of trying to sabotage his business, but the rest are charmed by her free spirit.
...
Wikipedia