Last Holiday Blu-ray Disc (Wayne Wang, 2006)

Paramount (USA)
2.35:1 1080p
111 minutes
Audio: Dolby TrueHD 5.1 English, DD 5.1 French, DD 5.1 Spanish
Subtitles: Optional English, English SDH, French, Spanish, Portuguese
Extras: Last Holiday: Packing Light; Last Holiday: Last Look; Last Holiday: 23 Years in the Making; deleted scenes; trailer

Released: 30 December 2008
Blu-ray case

Wayne Wang was once known as an important member of the American independent cinema movement. He began his movie career by making low-budget but perceptive motion pictures about immigrant Chinese-American life. He also developed a reputation for being adept at handling women’s stories and themes, which helped him land the director’s chair for The Joy Luck Club.

Unfortunately, Wang seems to have lost interest in examining Chinese-American concerns, though he’s still hired to make big-studio “chick flicks” like Anywhere But Here, Maid in Manhattan, and Because of Winn-Dixie. This phase of Wang’s career is particularly depressing because he also seems to have lost interest in caring at all about his legacy. Up until 1997, when Hong Kong (his birthplace) was returned by the British to China, Wang nurtured a political voice that commented on several important issues, including race, class, and identity. After 1997, he’s made safe, middle-of-the-road pap that is offensive precisely because it is inoffensive.

Wayne Wang’s Great First Phase:
Chan Is Missing (1982)
Dim Sum: A Little Bit of Heart (1985)
Slam Dance (1987)
Eat a Bowl of Tea (1989)
Life is Cheap...But Toilet Paper Is Expensive (1989)
The Joy Luck Club (1993)
Smoke (1995)
Blue in the Face (1995)
Chinese Box (1997)

Wayne Wang’s Not-So-Great Second Phase:
Anywhere But Here (1999)
The Center of the World (2001)
Maid in Manhattan (2002)
Because of Winn-Dixie (2005)
Last Holiday (2006)

I’m open to the idea that Wang is now directing commercial projects in order to provide for his family as well as to secure comfort during his later years in life. However, his contemporary Ang Lee has continued to make interesting and relevant movies even when working on high-profile projects. Moreover, Wang’s about-face is all the more dispiriting because he once made movies that are edgier and more daring than Lee’s.

Last Holiday is a re-make of a 1950 movie with the same title. In the 1950 version, a man finds out that he has a few weeks to live, so he takes all of a his money and goes on a wild vacation. He finds out that he’s not going to die, but the movie ends with the guy getting hit and killed by a bus. The 2006 version ends with the main character getting married and living happily ever after. This change de-fangs the original’s edge. Ironically, the 2006 version, which was made in a time filled with cynicism, goes easy on the audience and does little to challenge our conceptions about how to live life.

Queen Latifah plays Georgia Byrd, a salesclerk in a department store. She and a salesclerk played by LL Cool J are too shy to express their mutual attraction, so their relationship consists of awkward conversations. A CAT scan reveals that Georgia will die in three or four weeks. Therefore, she decides to blow all of her money on a vacation to the Czech Republic. While there, she teaches politicians, a hyper-competitive entrepreneur, a young mistress, and an old maid the real meaning of life. Gerard Depardieu is wasted in a cameo as a French cook.

Queen Latifah is an enjoyable screen presence. Her joy is infectious. Unfortunately, this movie is a wash-out. The “funny” scenes are not funny, and every time there was a didactic lesson, I wanted to barf. This is exactly the kind of mainstream, obvious story that Wayne Wang successfully avoided making prior to The Joy Luck Club, his first studio production. The Joy Luck Club was an excellent movie, but something gives me the feeling that that effort gave Wang a taste of what it’s like to operate with the safety net of a big studio watching your back all the time. However, safe is safe, and when a big studio spends a lot of money on a movie, it neuters a script in order to make it safe for as many money-paying people as possible.

I dunno about you, but I want to be challenged, not coddled.

Video:
The 2.35:1 1080p transfer is a smooth, clean affair. On the other hand, some shots are rather soft. The movie also has several effects shots that look terrible.

Audio:
With the exception of two scenes with a church choir, the Dolby TrueHD 5.1 English track is a front-heavy affair. The dialogue comes through well without being drowned out by music or effects. In general, the sound design is not a flashy or noteworthy affair.

Extras:
“Last Holiday: Packing Light” is a general overview of the production. There are a lot of enthusiastic comments about working with Wayne Wang, which is curious for a movie that has very little of Wang’s imprint on it.

“Last Holiday: Last Look” covers the production design, the costume design, and the cinematography.

“Last Holiday: 23 Years in the Making” discusses the movie’s development process beginning in the 1980s.

Finally, you get two deleted scenes and the theatrical trailer.

--Miscellaneous--
The DVD versions also had two recipes, which aren’t on the Blu-ray edition as far as I could tell.