The Holiday (2006) reviews

The Fuzzy Mushroom take on The Holiday

By Fuzzy Mushroom · Updated 12 November 2026 · The Pros 56 · The Punters 71 · Spore Score 59 · How we write our takes

Why The Punters rate it higher than The Pros

The Holiday is one of the clearest examples of a film critics shrugged at and audiences adopted. The Punters give it 71, The Pros 56, and the Spore Score is 59, with a fuzzy tag. In 2006 reviewers found it long, predictable and too glossy. Viewers have made it a winter comfort watch anyway, and that 15-point gap has only grown as it has become a Christmas regular.

What it is

Nancy Meyers wrote and directed this romantic comedy. Two women at the end of bad relationships swap homes for the holidays: Amanda (Cameron Diaz), who runs a film trailer company in Los Angeles, and Iris (Kate Winslet), a newspaper writer living in a cottage in Surrey. In England, Amanda meets Iris's brother Graham (Jude Law). In Los Angeles, Iris befriends a film composer, Miles (Jack Black), and an elderly retired screenwriter, Arthur (Eli Wallach), who helps her stand up for herself. Hans Zimmer wrote the score.

What it does well

Winslet's half of the film is the stronger one. Her friendship with Wallach's Arthur, a man from Hollywood's golden age whom the industry has forgotten, gives the film real heart, and Meyers clearly loves the old studio films the two of them talk about. The snowy Surrey cottage and the sunny Los Angeles mansion are pure escapism, which is a large part of the appeal.

Where The Pros have a point

At well over two hours it is long for a romantic comedy, and you know how both love stories will end within minutes of them starting. Diaz's storyline leans on broad comedy that does not always land, and the English village is a postcard version of England.

Who it is for

Anyone who wants a cosy, undemanding film for a cold December night, and fans of Nancy Meyers's other films such as Something's Gotta Give and It's Complicated. It pairs well with Love Actually.

The Fuzzy Mushroom verdict

Hit and miss, with a Spore Score of 59. Too long and too neat for critics, but warm, pretty and easy to love. If you want comfort rather than surprise, The Punters are the better guide.