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| Lowest Recommended Age: | Middle School |
| MPAA Rating: | Rated PG-13 for sexual content and some strong language. |
| Profanity: | Some strong language |
| Nudity/Sex: | Sexual references and situations, including drunken almost-anonymous encounter intented to be charming and romantic |
| Alcohol/Drugs: | A lot of drinking, some to excess, some to deal with unhappiness, some smoking |
| Violence/Scariness: | Comic peril and fighting |
| Diversity Issues: | None |
| Movie Release Date: | 2006 |
| DVD Release Date: | 2007 |
Amanda (Cameron Diaz) has a successful business cutting up new Hollywood releases into three-minute trailers that make the films look as enticing as possible. Writer-director Nancy Meyers essentially cuts up classic romantic comedies and reassembles them for modern consumption. The result is glossy fluff entertainment like What Women Want and Something’s Got to Give. They’re pretty to look at but they dissolve like cotton candy.
Amanda and Iris (Kate Winslet) find themselves with broken hearts just before Christmas. On impulse, they both go online and end up swapping homes for the holidays. Iris goes to Amanda’s glamorous house on movie star row in Los Angeles and Amanda ends up sliding around on high heels along the snowy road to Iris’s picturesque little cottage in the English countryside. And who should come to their doors but Jude Law as Graham, Iris’ brother, tipsy and looking for a place to sleep it off, and Jack Black as Miles, a soundtrack composer.
It’s hard to say whether the movie is being meta in its movie references (an old-time Hollywood screenwriter from next door gives Iris a must-watch list of classic romantic comedies and Amanda’s trailer for a Lindsay Lohan action film is one of the highlights), or just unimaginative and derivative. Probably a little bit of both. Too often, it is so formulaic you can see the little index cards — MUST HAVE: adorable guy with an English accent who is misunderstood and turns out to be even dreamier than we first thought; completely unnecessary romantic dash through the snow; character who announces that she can’t cry and so must then cry; cad who broke girl’s heart beg her to come back so she can turn him down, check, check, check. Oh, and just to make sure, let’s pick the safest, most predictable, guaranteed heart-tugger songs on the soundtrack. Even the delectable Diaz can’t make some of the behavior in this film feel anything but tawdry. There are some logistical impossibilities that will jar even the most beguiled of audiences out of the movie. It’s worst failings are its smugness about its own charms, unwarranted banner of female empowerment, and phony sincerity. But the stars and settings are undeniably appealing. If it is as synthetic and insubstantial as a Kinkade Christmas tree ornament, it is as pretty, too.
Families who enjoy this film will also enjoy some of the classics recommended for Iris, including The Lady Eve
posted December 18, 2008 at 12:06 pm
Cute adult film, but the “F” word and the bedroom scene with Cameron Diaz in a bra caught my family WAY off guard. Proceed with caution if watching with your kids.
posted December 18, 2008 at 3:05 pm
Thanks, Lisa! I appreciate your comment. I tried to make that clear in my review and parental advisory but it is a helpful reminder. For me the language and bra were not as troubling as the impulsive stranger sex. You should always assume that any PG-13 film will have one F-word and some sexual situations.