It's Christmas Eve and we are going to go celebrate being young and being alive.
The Holiday (2006)
Two women, one American and one British, swap homes at Christmastime following bad breakups. Each woman finds romance with a local man but realizes that the imminent return home may end the relationship.
rating 8/10 User rating 5,552 votes 71% ❄ Christmas Connection
Christmas is the catalyst for everything in The Holiday. Both protagonists flee their lives during the holiday season, and the film is steeped in Christmas atmosphere, from snowy English cottages to Los Angeles holiday parties. The entire plot hinges on a Christmas home exchange.
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Our Review
Nancy Meyers spent $85 million making The Holiday in 2006, which at the time made it one of the most expensive romantic comedies ever produced. Critics were lukewarm. Audiences showed up anyway, and then kept showing up every December for the next two decades. The film has become a Christmas movie staple in the way that only happens when a movie taps into something its initial reviews missed entirely.
The premise is simple enough: two women on different continents, both wrecked by terrible men, swap homes over Christmas. Amanda (Cameron Diaz) lands in a cozy English cottage in Surrey. Iris (Kate Winslet) gets a sleek mansion in Los Angeles. Both find new romance. Both find themselves. It's a formula, sure. But Meyers executes it with a confidence and visual warmth that most rom-coms can only dream about.
Why The Holiday Works as a Christmas Movie
The film doesn't just use Christmas as set dressing. The holiday season is the reason these two women make their impulsive decisions. Amanda is a workaholic movie trailer producer who hasn't cried in years. Iris is a journalist pining after a colleague who got engaged to someone else. Christmas, with its relentless pressure to be happy and surrounded by loved ones, is what pushes them both over the edge.
Meyers understands something about Christmas that most holiday films miss: for a lot of people, December is the loneliest month of the year. The Holiday takes that loneliness seriously before it offers its characters a way out.
And then there's the production design. The Surrey cottage, designed by Jon Hutman, became so iconic that tourists still try to find it (it was built on a soundstage at Shepperton Studios). The interiors are pure Meyers: warm lighting, overstuffed bookshelves, cashmere throws draped just so. It's Christmas as a feeling rather than a checklist of decorations.
The Cast That Makes It Sing
Cameron Diaz and Kate Winslet anchor the film, but they're playing in completely different registers. Diaz brings physical comedy and brittle energy to Amanda, a woman so emotionally shut down she literally cannot cry. Winslet gives Iris a bruised sweetness that never tips into pathetic. The two women never share a scene together, which is a bold structural choice for a film that's essentially about female friendship at a distance.
Jude Law, playing Iris's brother Graham, does the best work of his rom-com career. When his character's secret is revealed midway through the film, Law sells a vulnerability that the script only sketches. He makes you believe a man this handsome could also be this gentle.
Then there's Jack Black as Miles, a film composer who befriends Iris in LA. Black dials back his usual manic energy just enough to be charming without being exhausting. His scenes with Winslet have a relaxed chemistry that feels genuinely improvised, even when it isn't.
The secret weapon, though, is Eli Wallach as Arthur Abbott, a retired screenwriter from Hollywood's golden age. His subplot with Iris gives the film its emotional spine. When Arthur walks to the podium at a Writers Guild tribute, aided by Iris, it's the scene that earns the tears Meyers has been building toward for two hours.
Nancy Meyers and the Art of the Aspirational Interior
No director in Hollywood history has been more obsessed with kitchens, and The Holiday is no exception. Amanda's LA home has a kitchen that could accommodate a restaurant brigade. Iris's borrowed version isn't far behind. Meyers has always understood that her audiences want to live inside her movies, and The Holiday is essentially real estate fantasy crossed with romantic comedy.
This has become a running joke in film criticism, but it shouldn't be dismissed. Meyers creates worlds that feel attainable enough to desire but polished enough to escape into. It's the same impulse that makes people binge-watch property shows in December. The Holiday just wraps it in cashmere and adds a love story.
The film's score, by Hans Zimmer, is surprisingly restrained for a composer known for bombast. Zimmer uses piano and strings to underscore the quieter emotional beats, and his theme for Arthur Abbott's storyline is genuinely moving.
What Holds It Back
At 138 minutes, The Holiday is too long. The LA storyline sags in the middle, and some of Amanda's scenes with Graham repeat the same emotional beats. Meyers could have cut 20 minutes without losing anything essential.
The film also has a blind spot about class. Amanda's "humble" cottage is the kind of property that would cost over a million pounds in the Surrey countryside. Iris's LA experience involves a mansion, a Bentley, and access to industry parties. These are nice problems to have, and the film never quite acknowledges that its version of heartbreak comes with extremely comfortable furniture.
But these are quibbles about a movie that knows exactly what it wants to be. The Holiday isn't trying to reinvent the genre. It's trying to be the best, warmest, most visually gorgeous version of a Christmas romance, and it largely succeeds. When Iris finally tells her manipulative ex to get lost, the audience cheers because Winslet has made us feel every minute of that slow-burning self-respect.
Fun Facts
The Surrey cottage was entirely built on a soundstage at Shepperton Studios in England. No real cottage exists at the location, though fans still search for it in the village of Shere, where exterior shots were filmed.
Lindsay Lohan was originally considered for the role of Iris before Kate Winslet was cast. Meyers has said she always wanted Winslet but the studio initially pushed for a younger actress.
Jack Black learned to play several classical piano pieces for his role as Miles. The close-up shots of hands playing piano in the film are actually Black's own hands.
The character of Arthur Abbott was inspired by several real Golden Age Hollywood screenwriters, but Meyers has never confirmed a single specific inspiration. Eli Wallach was 90 years old during filming.
Hans Zimmer composed the score as a personal favor to Meyers. He reportedly charged far below his usual fee because he loved the script.
Cameron Diaz's character watches movie trailers she has produced, and the fake trailers shown in the film were created by actual Hollywood trailer editors hired by the production.
The film earned $205 million worldwide against its $85 million budget. It performed significantly better internationally than domestically, with the UK alone contributing over $30 million.
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