The Holiday parents guide

The Holiday Parent Guide

Overall C+

Although they live on opposite sides of the globe, Amanda (Cameron Diaz) and Iris (Kate Winslet) have had equally disappointing experiences with men. Accidentally finding each other over the Internet on a home exchange site, the two agree to swap residences for the Christmas Holidays. But the change of address also causes a change of heart when the women meet new love interests (played by Jude Law and Jack Black).

Release date December 7, 2006

Violence B+
Sexual Content C
Profanity D
Substance Use C

Why is The Holiday rated PG-13? The MPAA rated The Holiday PG-13 for sexual content and some strong language.

Run Time: 138 minutes

Parent Movie Review

Love hurts. Or so is the conclusion of Iris (Kate Winslet), a columnist at a London newspaper, who has just discovered her never faithful boyfriend of three years (Rufus Sewell) has become engaged to another woman. As all three of them work in the same office, Iris takes her heartbreak back to her cloistered cottage in Surrey, but her grief feels too big for her small surroundings.

Meanwhile, in Los Angeles, Amanda (Cameron Diaz) is also stinging from the pain of Cupid’s arrow. A successful producer of movie trailers, the businesswoman has difficulty making time for people or emotional commitment in her life. Consequently, when her live-in lover (Edward Burns) confesses to sleeping with someone more available, she tearlessly punches him in the face—twice—before throwing him out the door.

Desperate to get away from it all, Amanda hits the Internet in search of a vacation destination and stumbles across a home exchange advertisement for a lovely place in the English countryside, which just happens to belong to Iris. Within minutes the two aching souls agree to swap residences for the Christmas holidays.

Yet despite a desire not to pack their past problems along, each woman arrives at her destination on the other side of the globe still carrying some baggage.

Unused to vacationing, Amanda quickly grows inpatient with the quaint and quiet village. So she’s more than inviting when opportunity knocks in the form of Iris’s inebriated brother Graham (Jude Law). Still struggling with the idea of forming heartfelt connections, she seeks a no-strings-attached sexual relationship with this handsome stranger. As the days pass, however, she finds herself getting more and more entangled.

Iris on the other hand, can’t stop her rescuing nature from reaching out to an elderly man (Eli Wallach) living in her adopted neighborhood, or inviting in an acquaintance of Amanda’s (Jack Black), who shows up like a stray on the doorstep. Soon she is sympathizing with her new friends’ feelings of loneliness and unrequited love—and is just as surprised as always when she realizes how much of her own heart she has invested.

Created under the hand of “chick flick” queen Nancy Meyers, it’s certain both women will go home happy—somehow. Thankfully, we also enjoy some intelligent dialogue along with character development that depicts all the major players moving in positive directions and recognizing the priorities in life they have previously neglected.

But even with all the “warm fuzzy” emotions emanating from this engaging screenplay, some elements may cause concerns for parents, especially those surrounding Amanda and Graham’s casual attitude toward sexual relationships. A few profanities, the use of alcohol to drown sorrows and crude sexual terms (including a sexual expletive) round out the clouds threatening to rain on what is otherwise a very entertaining Holiday.

Starring Cameron Diaz, Kate Winslet, Jude Law, Jack Black. Running time: 138 minutes. Theatrical release December 7, 2006. Updated

The Holiday
Rating & Content Info

Why is The Holiday rated PG-13? The Holiday is rated PG-13 by the MPAA for sexual content and some strong language.

There is no shortage of comedy and warm moments in this romance. Unfortunately, one storyline revolves around a casual sexual relationship. Although no sexual activity is seen (with the exception of a couple viewed in bed from the waist up, with the woman shown wearing a bra), it is often discussed. Profanities, crude sexual terms, a sexual expletive and a few terms of deity also punctuate the script. Social drinking is frequent, including characters that drink to relieve grief. Violence is limited to a jilted woman punching a man two times.

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The Holiday Parents' Guide

How does the script use Amada’s works as a producer of movie trailers to summarizes how she views her life? How can a person’s profession affect their personal perspective?

As a third party watching Iris’s romance, it is obvious the man of her affection is using her. What methods does Jasper employ to manipulate Iris? Why is she so willing to let him?

Home Video

The most recent home video release of The Holiday movie is March 13, 2007. Here are some details…

If you take a break from your regular routine to watch The Holiday (releasing on DVD in a widescreen format), you can also take in an audio commentary by Nancy Myers (the film’s director) and a making-of featurette. Audio tracks are available in English (Dolby Digital 5.1) and French, with subtitles in English, French and Spanish.

Related home video titles:

Writer/director Nancy Meyers has also penned scripts for the movies Father of the Bride (1991), Father of the Bride 2 (1995), and the remake of Disney’s The Parent Trap (1998).