Last Holiday

The newest creation from director Wayne Wang, essentially a remake of the 1950s' Alec Guinness Brit comedy, sees Queen Latifah take to the screen adorned with woollen cardy and scraped back hair as a demure, dowdy retail clerk. After discovering she is terminally ill and has but weeks to live, she decides to break out of her less than shiny shell and spend some of that studiously saved dosh to make her book of possibilities a reality. She checks into a lavish European Ski resort, blows all her life savings and finally admits her fancy to shy boy Sean Matthews, played by LL Cool J. Alongside a cast of eccentric hotel staff, a few scheming snobs and a flamboyant chef played by Gerard Depardieu, she emerges as the self confident Latifah we know; full of sprit, grit and gusto. While nothing more than a light diversion that will leave critics choking on the cheese, the Jacks and Jills of the viewing public will lap up the predictable but embarrassingly heartwarming fare. [Simone Gray]