The Holiday
Dec. 20th, 2018 09:36 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
osprey_archerI’m happy to report that The Holiday is just as delightful now as it was the first time I saw it twelve years ago. Iris’s cottage in Surrey is even more impossibly charming this time around - although I can definitely see why she’s totally delighted to crash for a couple of weeks at Amanda’s gigantic LA pad. The romances are cute, although I think my very favorite relationship in the movie is Iris’s friendship with the nonagenarian film writer, who helps her grow a spine through the judicious recommendation of old movies with badass female characters. (We could all do worse than to emulate Barbara Stanwyck.)
Actually, because Iris and Arthur’s friendship is so strong, her eventual romance feels comparatively rushed, but then the movie’s not trying too hard to sell it to us as lasting love - although I guess you sort of assume it will be because movies generally sell their love stories as happily ever after? But the movie doesn’t try to force it.
I got way more invested in Amanda’s relationship with Iris’s brother, Graham, because they seem so good together and yet the barriers to their relationship… well, not overwhelming, but big enough that they might end up scuttling it. Hypothetically, Amanda could totally move to England and continue her career remotely - but would she regret that decision? Even leaving aside the possibility that commissions might begin to dry up if she’s no longer physically present, she might miss the creative community.
And although she gets along well with Graham’s young daughters when she meets them, how would she settle into the day-to-day realities of being a stepmother? Her interactions with the girls struck me as slightly awkward in the manner of someone who hasn’t spent much time with children.
On the other hand, Amanda and Iris would clearly be totally kickass sisters-in-law and I can 100% envision them singing karaoke at the top of their lungs on a boozy road trip of self-discovery and also getting away from Amanda's now-teenaged stepdaughters. (It would clearly end with Amanda and Graham reaffirming their commitment to each other and Amanda reconciling with her cranky stepdaughter.) This would make a great sequel, Nancy Meyers!
Actually, because Iris and Arthur’s friendship is so strong, her eventual romance feels comparatively rushed, but then the movie’s not trying too hard to sell it to us as lasting love - although I guess you sort of assume it will be because movies generally sell their love stories as happily ever after? But the movie doesn’t try to force it.
I got way more invested in Amanda’s relationship with Iris’s brother, Graham, because they seem so good together and yet the barriers to their relationship… well, not overwhelming, but big enough that they might end up scuttling it. Hypothetically, Amanda could totally move to England and continue her career remotely - but would she regret that decision? Even leaving aside the possibility that commissions might begin to dry up if she’s no longer physically present, she might miss the creative community.
And although she gets along well with Graham’s young daughters when she meets them, how would she settle into the day-to-day realities of being a stepmother? Her interactions with the girls struck me as slightly awkward in the manner of someone who hasn’t spent much time with children.
On the other hand, Amanda and Iris would clearly be totally kickass sisters-in-law and I can 100% envision them singing karaoke at the top of their lungs on a boozy road trip of self-discovery and also getting away from Amanda's now-teenaged stepdaughters. (It would clearly end with Amanda and Graham reaffirming their commitment to each other and Amanda reconciling with her cranky stepdaughter.) This would make a great sequel, Nancy Meyers!
no subject
Date: 2018-12-21 12:15 pm (UTC)I think the romance is convincingly something which could develop into a serious relationship down the track, but because the movie doesn't have to make us believe that the characters have arrived at the point of committing to each other upon a very short acquaintance, there's room for the relationship to just... be whatever it is.
(I'd like more romance relationships in stories given this sort of ending, actually. If there isn't enough time passing, if there isn't enough space to develop the relationship, then I'd be satisfied with "we're going to see where this relationship goes" rather than "This is True LoveTM".)
I love the idea of a Amanda-and-Iris roadtrip sequel!
no subject
Date: 2018-12-23 02:06 am (UTC)Iris and Amanda: THE ROAD TRIP would be awesome.