Movie Review--Last Holiday

I can't help it. I love so-called feel-good movies. In this one, Queen Latifah plays a meek sales associate (Georgia Byrd) who is afraid to really live. She works in a department store in New Orleans (pre-Katrina, of course) selling cookware. She is an amazing cook herself, but she doesn't try to pursue her dream of becoming a chef. She feeds a neighbor boy (whom I assumed was her son at first; the movie didn't do a good job of identifying him) a fabulous meal but eats a Lean Cuisine herself. She is crazy about a coworker named Sean (LL Cool J) but is too shy to let him know how she feels.

Then one day she is told that she has a fatal disease, and her HMO won't cover an operation. She quits her job, cashes in her retirement plan, and checks into the Presidential Suite ($4000 a night) in a posh resort hotel in Central Europe, chosen because a chef she idolizes works there. Also at the hotel are the CEO of the department store where Georgia recently quit her job, his assistant, a senator, and a congressman. They think that Georgia must be someone "important" because she's staying in the Presidential Suite and is apparently very rich. She wins all of them over, with the exception of the CEO (Timothy Hutton), who is jealous of the attention she's getting. She also wins over the hotel staff and especially the chef.

This is a remake of the 1950 movie starring Alex Guinness. I never saw that one, but what made this one so good is Queen Latifah's charm. The movie is not exactly unpredictable, but it's enjoyable because she is just so much fun.