Big question: Georgia Byrd (Queen Latifah) finds out she has three weeks to live and makes a beeline to Europe. Will this remake inspire you to live each day as though it were your last?
Catch it: Latifah lights up this holiday, gleefully displaying Georgia’s emerging inner strength before it’s too late. She’s the risk-taking spark in a film that takes few chances of its own.
Skip it if: You take into account Georgia’s pre-hurricane hometown. In real life, the New Orleans native would make much better use of her savings than spa treatments and snowboarding lessons.
Bottom line: “Last Holiday” is the perfect vehicle for Latifah’s sassy, contagious energy, and she’s evenly matched with LL Cool J, who is charming as Georgia’s dream man. It’s a generic but pleasant mental vacation.
Bonus: Reminds Hollywood that women who weigh more than a side salad can make damn fine leading ladies.
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mpais@tribune.com
