by Ali Patterson
Daily Lobo
I tried. I really tried.
As much as I hate Queen Latifah in her Wal-Mart commercials, I just couldn't hate her in "Last Holiday," her latest movie in theaters Jan. 13. As much as Latifah irritated me as Mama Morton in "Chicago," I couldn't help but love her in this movie.
Darn.
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Latifah plays Georgia Byrd, a mousy woman who wears frumpy clothes and sells knives and cookware in a department store. Byrd is an excellent cook, but she won't eat anything she makes - she sticks to Lean Cuisine. LL Cool J, Byrd's crush, plays a barbecue salesman in the same department store.
After suffering a blow to the head, a faulty CAT scan indicates Byrd has a fatal disease and will only live for three more weeks.
This diagnosis, as expected, turns Byrd into a more ambitious and outgoing person. She loses the frumpy clothes. She decides to quit eating Lean Cuisine and travels to Karlovy Vary, a mountain village in the Czech Republic. There, she meets a famous chef, played by Gerard Depardieu, who has inspired Byrd.
She gets to try her hand in the kitchen along Depardieu, along with some other adventures, like snowboarding, base jumping and lots of trips to the spa at the Grandhotel Pupp. The Pupp - pronounced "poop" - should have been the butt of more jokes, but oh well. Check out pictures online, and one day you'll dream of going there, too.
So the story sounds pretty boring, huh? Typical live-each-day-as-if-it-were-your-last crap. Well, some of it is. But most of it isn't. Byrd doesn't tell anyone she is dying, including LL Cool J's character, so her mysterious disappearance leads him to investigate.
This film would make for a great date movie. However, the average dinner-and-a-movie date won't do. So here's the plan: See "Last Holiday" in the afternoon and skip the expensive tickets. This movie showcases some delectable meals, so by the time it's over, your mouth will be watering. Hence, dinner should come afterward, where you and your date can use creative adjectives to describe your wine: "In this pinot noir, I sense a mild oak, cranberry bog water and a hint of cat urine."
"Last Holiday" isn't a flick to make you ponder existentialism, but it is a movie that will make you smile and feel good for the rest of the day. The film is a remake of the 1950 movie of the same name, but director Wayne Wang, who last directed "Because of Winn-Dixie," took a jollier spin on the story. Though the plot is predictable, hilarious moments pop up. And come on, who doesn't have a crush on LL Cool J?
So maybe I was wrong about Latifah. She might be annoying sometimes, but on Jan. 4 she received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame - the first hip-hop artist to do so. So someone out there must think she's doing an OK job. She certainly generated some laughs in this movie.
So thumb through your little black book and find a cute date to spend the afternoon with. Just be prepared to get some grub after the movie.
