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Sometimes it takes one moment to change your life. It’s easy to fall into the rut of going to work, procrastinating on the things you really want to do, and waiting for a day that will never come… until something happens to wake you up and get you started on life. This is the plot behind one of my favorite non-holiday movies.
Last Holiday is a 2006 romantic comedy-drama film starring Queen Latifah as a department store employee who is told that she has a rare brain condition that will kill her within a few weeks. She decides to take a wonderful vacation as a way to say goodbye, and heads to Europe to spend her savings on the luxuries she has always dreamed of.
Last Holiday takes place over Christmas and New Year’s, and it’s not the usual seasonal fare. There are no elves, decorations or gifts, it is simply the story of a woman who receives terrible news and decides to live the final weeks of her life to the fullest.
After fracturing her head while working, Georgia discovers she has multiple lesions on her brain caused by Lambingdon’s disease. Without treatment, her condition is fatal, but her insurance prevents her from undergoing the necessary surgery.
Instead of lying down to die, Georgia decides to travel to Europe, blow away her savings and go out with a bang. After spending her life savings for a future she now believes she will never see, she decides to eat the best food, sleep in the best hotel and enjoy the things she has been putting off for so long. She quit her job, cashed out her IRA, and decided to live life to the fullest.
Once she got on the plane, things started to change. Georgia upgrades to first class, takes a helicopter to her hotel and is upgraded to the presidential suite. Georgia’s extravagant spending and mysterious presence interest the hotel’s bigwigs – self-help guru Cragen, his assistant, and Louisiana power brokers Senator Dillings and Congressman Stewart. They all think she’s as rich as they are, but Georgia is simply trying to enjoy her final days.
When Georgia’s fortunes change, you wonder why it happened now.
Back in Louisiana, Georgia’s crush and former co-worker, Shawn Williams (played by LL Cool J), wonders where she is and what happened. He learns that Georgia is dying and then takes off, following the advice of a neighbour.
Georgia continues to do all the things she was afraid or too frugal to indulge in before — figure skating, base jumping, and more. Cragen becomes suspicious and becomes convinced that Georgia is at the hotel to mess with his business. He pays employees to find out who the “real” is.
Mrs. Gunther, the Guest Services Manager, finds a farewell letter that Georgia wrote to her loved ones. After Georgia returns from a charity fundraiser (where she ends up winning $100,000 and wonders why her life is suddenly so much better), Gunther admits that she snooped and found the truth.
Gunther convinces Georgia that instead of dying alone in a hotel, she should go home. At the same time, Sean travels to find her and make sure she is not alone in her “final” days. When she decided to return home, she found that an avalanche had blocked the road to the airport, making it impossible to return to the United States.
I won’t spoil the ending, but I will share that Georgia finds what she’s looking for, while Cragen leads her to a group of rich new friends, Sean wanders over a lot of snow and sudden news from the United States changes everything.
Despite the lack of obvious Christmas moments, Last Holiday remains — nearly 20 years later — one of my favorite movies with a holiday set at its heart, and it shows in every frame. Queen Latifah gave an excellent performance, and the message that people should pursue the things they love always spoke to me.