a movie review by: Sean McBride

3 Stars

Queen Latifah's latest film won't hold up to critical scrutiny, but audiences who are simply looking for an enjoyable night out at the movies will find "Last Holiday" to be quite charming. Credit goes to Queen Latifah, who has such an engaging on-screen persona that she's able to make gem out of what would have otherwise been a lump of coal of a movie.

Latifah stars as Georgia, a mousy sales clerk who is afraid to really pursue her dreams until the day when she is diagnosed with a rare disease and told that she has only three weeks left to live. Since she no longer has to worry about saving for retirement, Georgia decides to liquidate her life's savings and enjoy her last few weeks on earth at a fancy ski resort in Prague. She is soon flying around in helicopters, snowboarding down black diamond runs, even trying a little base jumping.

Her free-spending and high-living ways attract the attentions of the business and political power brokers staying at the resort. It's not long before she seduces both the guests and the resort staff with her infectious joie de vivre. The head chef (Gerard Depardieu), in particular, is enchanted by this woman who doesn't care if her dinner was cooked with butter or pork lard, just as long as it tastes great.

Now anybody with a half a brain can see where this story is going, but Queen Latifah is so much fun to watch that you won't care that the happy ending is utterly predictable. The rest of the cast doesn't fare so well, but "Last Holiday" is written as a starring vehicle for Latifah, and she takes her project and makes it her own.

"Last Holiday" is predictable, veers into slapstick comedy a bit too often and features underwritten characters and mediocre direction. But the bottom line is that I didn't care. Despite its many faults, "Last Holiday" is an utterly charming piece of fluff filmmaking.

Alicia Witt Photo

LL Cool J Photograph

Queen Latifah Photo