Review: Last Holiday (the remake).

I've been a fan of Sir Alec Guinness ever since I was introduced to his work in "Star Wars". Back then I was pretty young, in my just-teenage years, and while I had seen Guinness before, I'd never really connected with his style of acting.



When I finally did develop and interest in following Sir Alec's career, I found excellent black and white movies such as: "Man In The White Suit", "Great Expectations" and "Last Holiday".
By far my favorite was "Last Holiday". Sure, "Man In The White Suit" had uproarious comedy, slapstick, and made me laugh harder than I had in a long time, but "last Holiday" had me on the edge of my seat for the whole performance.



In "Last Holiday", Guinness was the absolute picture of a salesman, right down to the mustache. He was mild-mannered, calm, and unassuming. He was the perfect tractor salesman. When diagnosed with "Lampington's Disease" (after a doctor mixed up his x-rays with those of another patient), he truly became down and out. George Bird got that "far-off look" in his eyes, and people begin to notice it. On a whim, he bought all of the clothing from a Lord's Estate sale at a local yard-sale store. Of course, the clothing makes the man, and so he took all of his luggage, too. He decided to go to a posh resort to spend his last days.



From the casting of the hotel staff to the confrontation with "Dr. Lampington", one cannot help but feel for George Bird(and Sir Alec). He played the part to the hilt - the sad looks, the sighs, the depression he seemed to feel permeated the screen. When confronted with something he doesn't like, George stood up and spoke his mind. No longer a salesman, he was free to be himself. As a result he ran into lots of money, helped a gangster/gambler with his debt and with his girlfriend, gave a company executive an idea for marketing, and found himself.

But this wonderful fairytale of making friends at the very last minute ended in tragedy - and very unexpectedly. The end is so sad that it leaves one depressed for days. Guinness played the role so well that one cannot help but feel affected. It's a masterpiece.

Now for the remake - Queen Latifah's role is now cast as "Georgia Bird", and instead of being from a small town in England, she's from a small town in Louisiana. She's not a tractor salesperson, but an associate of a cooking department in a large department store.
While one does feel a measure of sadness for Georgia, it's not the same as that for her character's counterpart in the original film. There's light comedy intermixed into this remake - unlike the dark, morbid, black comedy that made Guinness' version so delightful.
Latifah does handle herself well, but at some point one cannot see the same depths of feeling that were expressed by Guinness. Queen Latifah is not the well-studied actor that Guinness was (in 1950). She cannot possibly stand up to his performance, so we'll just brush that aside.



The addition of Gerard Depardieu does help this film immeasurably. He is a well-studied actor, and he lifts everyone else's performances as well.
This remake is rewritten almost to the point that it is unrecognisable from the original, and as such - the ending is a happy one. Georgia gets all she desires, and everyone lives happily ever after.
WHAT?
The loss of the dark ending destroyed any chance for this movie to do well at the box offices. It's a flop because of the rewriting, most of the casting, and the setting.

If you'd like to go to see a movie with a happy ending, then by all means, see the remake. If you really want to see a well crafted, heart-pounding, triumph of a movie - then See "Last Holiday" (1950). Revel in that which was Alec Guinness, and learn the splendid art of acting the black comedy.