Last Holiday should not work. Its premise is weak, its outcome is never in doubt, and its humor tends to fluctuate between the banal and the uninspired. And yet somehow this remake of a darker 1950 Alec Guinness comedy overcomes all that and emerges as a sweet, engaging, and winning vehicle for a game Queen Latifah. This will not end up on anyone's Top 10 at the end of 2006, but for this cold January, it offers a welcome ray of light.
Latifah is Georgia Byrd, a shy, lonely retail clerk who toils in the cookware section of Kragen's, a New Orleans department store. At home, she keeps a dream book of what she hopes her future holds: her own restaurant and a relationship with hunky coworker Sean Matthews (LL Cool J). But she is too shy and retiring to ever act on her ambitions and then she gets some devastating news. She has a rare brain disease and will be dead within a matter of weeks.（）

　　
Staring mortality in the face, she decides to start living. She cashes in some savings bonds and an IRA and books a room at a glamorous Czech Republic inn, the Grandhotel Pupp. It is the setting for a fairytale, a gorgeous, centuries-old alpine playground for the rich and famous (as, indeed, it is in real life—it boasts past guests as diverse as Ludwig von Beethoven, Franz Kafka, and Alan Alda). But Georgia has a more practical reason for choosing this particular hotel, as it is the home kitchen of star chef Didier (a twinkly Gerard Depardieu), and if she admits to dying at all, it is that she is dying to try his cooking.

　　 That terminal diagnosis liberates her. She falls in with a crowd that includes Matthew Kragen (Timothy Hutton), the slimy CEO of her former place of employment; Louisiana Senator Dillings (Giancarlo Esposito); and Congressman Stewart (Michael Nouri). Dillings, in particular, is charmed by this glamorous daredevil who bests Kragen at base jumping but, recognizing a corrupt situation when she sees one, chastises him for his lack of ethics. And this woman, who was living on Lean Cuisine, rediscovers her passion for butter and pork fat, to the utter delight of Didier. Everyone loves her (almost) and why not? She is the life of the party.

　　 It is all utterly formulaic, and poor Hutton is saddled with a role that is such a cartoon villain that one of the movie's few surprises is that he does not have a mustache to twirl a la Snidely Whiplash. Director Wayne Wang whose specialty is the small, character-driven drama, such as Chan Is Missing and The Center of the World, is not a natural with this type of broad comedy, and it shows, particularly in the timing. Scenes that start out funny, such as one where Georgia rides a snowboard for the very first time, go on so long that they're finally bled of all humor.

　　 Offsetting that is everything else, particularly Latifah, who plays Georgia as a woman who blossoms the minute she stops hiding from life. The supporting cast is excellent (even the sandbagged Hutton), and Depardieu is a standout. The locations are also exceptional. Six months ago, of course, New Orleans would not have been that special, but this glimpse of the pre-Katrina city is unexpectedly moving. As for the Grandhotel Pupp, it is truly spectacular.

　　 Last Holiday comes out at a time when one aspect of its plot has become suddenly relevant. The relationship between Kragen and the two congressmen mirrors Washington's current scandal involving lobbyists currying favor by showering gifts—including trips to high-end resorts—on politicians. Kragen is footing the bill for Dillings and Stewart in exchange for their help on a regulatory matter, unethical behavior that leads Georgia to scold Dillings, "I voted for you. Whatever happened to that community center you were going to build?"

　　 Regardless of this accidental nod to the Beltway's latest tempest, Last Holiday is not a movie that will tax anyone's brain cells. But as diversions go, it is pleasant, a nice escape from winter's doldrums.