Iris (Kate Winslet) is in love with Jasper (Rufus Sewell) who is about to marry another woman. Across the globe, Amanda (Cameron Diaz) realizes the man she lives with has been unfaithful. Two women who have never met and live 6000 miles apart, find themselves in the exact same place.

They meet online at a home exchange website and impulsively switch homes for the holiday. Iris moves into Amanda's L.A. house in sunny California as Amanda arrives in the snow covered English countryside. Shortly after arriving at their destinations, both women find the last thing either wants or expects: a new romance. Amanda is charmed by Iris' handsome brother Graham (Jude Law) and Iris, with inspiration provided by legendary screenwriter Arthur (Eli Wallach), mends her heart when she meets film composer Miles (Jack Black).

The Holiday is your standard chick flick, which I am not saying is a bad thing, it just tries a little too hard to be cute and funny. If you ask your average movie-goer a year from now if they remember this movie, they may answer with "vaguely". I'm not saying that it's a bad film, just one that is easily forgettable. Once the respective break-ups occur and Diaz and Winslet switch homes (more on that later), we go into the standard tourist-out-of-their-element shtick that has been done over and over.

I will say that Winslet is endearing and cute as she runs from room to room jumping and giggling upon first entering Diaz's home. There is a nice little sub-plot dealing with aged screenwriter Arthur, who is befriended by Iris, where she talks him into going to a presentation honoring his career that added a few nice moments to the movie. Plus Arthur seemed to have some of the best lines as well.

I'm not a big Cameron Diaz fan so I won't say too much. But I will say that her story is kind of lackluster until a certain situation (after their initial situation, that is) makes her and Jude Law's relationship more complicated. Boring enough that the film maker has to resort to making certain aspects of Diaz's life into a movie trailer to get a laugh.

I would have rather seen more of Winslet's escapades in Hollywood.

Jude Law is just as handsome as ever with an added character building flaw. He is a weeper, he will cry at the drop of a hat whilst Cameron Diaz's character hasn't cried since she was fifteen. Is there a better match?

And as funny as Jack Black can be I believe that he should stick to smaller roles like this one. He is actually pretty charming and mostly normal, only showing the obnoxious antics that seem to be his trademark in only one scene, and that scene is actually funny and he reins it in just enough. (Oh, and watch for the funniest cameo of the year during said scene.)

The problems? The Holiday tries a little too hard without paying attention to itself. Example, when Amanda first arrives at Iris's cottage, the driver of the car says he can't take her all the way to the cottage because there is nowhere to turn a car around, so we get a funny little scene of Amanda in high heels lugging her suitcase up a snow covered hill. Then, at the end of the movie the same car and driver picks her up at her front door. What gives?

And also, who in their right mind would give the keys to their house and car to a complete stranger? Especially when you have Amanda's house – a ginormous house in L.A. with a pool, a Lexus, and a DVD library with more titles than your local Blockbuster being traded in for Iris's little cottage with a sagging roof and no furnace? Some really unrealistic situations here, not to mention the same old problem of all romantic comedies – namely semi psychotic people who swear off love and then find Mr. Or Ms. Perfect, then agonize over the situation and then bam! Everything works out hunk-dory in the end. Yes, I forgot to take my happy pill this morning.

I would say that I enjoyed 3/4ths of this movie and don't plan on renting it when it comes out on DVD. But guys, if you want to earn some brownie points with the wife or girlfriend, take her to see this. She may enjoy it and it isn't too much torture for us men no matter how bad I have ripped into it. I know that sounds like I'm contradicting myself, but I believe you should prepare for the worse and be surprised by the good things. I have purposely left out some of these pleasant turns for those of you who do decide to venture out and see this to discover and enjoy on your own.

So until somebody gives me the keys to Skywalker Ranch... keep reading Mitch E