The Holiday
In London, Iris (Kate Winslet) is a journalist who's been pining over her jerk ex Jasper for 3 years, and he just got engaged. Amanda (Cameron Diaz), who makes film trailers in Los Angeles, has just thrown out her cheating boyfriend. They meet online and elect to swap homes for two weeks during Christmas vacation. Naturally, they meet men (and of course, men that are a part of the other woman's life; Amanda hooks up with Iris' brother (Jude Law) and Iris meets Amanda's composer (Jack Black) for her film trailer).
Tropes used in The Holiday include:
- Adorkable: Miles.
- The Charmer: Graham appears to be this way at first, but is really a Hot Dad.
- The Cameo: Dustin Hoffman; see Throw It In below.
- Crack Pairing: You have to admit to Jack Black and Kate Winslet isn't a pairing you'd ever expect in any movie.
- Did You Think I Can't Feel?: Iris has this moment towards the end
- Eating the Eye Candy
- Fake-Out Opening: The film's opening shows a couple kissing on a riverbank, romantic music swelling... which turns out to be Miles' composition over a film clip on his computer
- Fauxlosophic Narration: Iris at the beginning of the movie
- Fragile Flower: Iris for the first half of the movie, with regards to Jasper
- Hey, It's That Guy!: Jim from The Office
- Inner Monologue: especially done with Amanda, whose brain turns her life into a movie trailer
- Last-Minute Hookup: Iris and Miles, after working out their ex issues.
- Long-Distance Relationship
- Manly Tears
- Meet Cute: Kind of Lampshaded by Arthur.
- Mistaken for Cheating: Amanda "accidentally" checks Graham's phone with two incoming calls; noticing two girls' names, she notes "Sophie, Olivia, Amanda. Busy guy". These turn out to be his two young daughters.
- Product Placement: When Amanda and Iris instant message, the VAIO logo is clearly displayed centre-screen
- Race For Your Love
- Relationship Compression
- Romancing the Widow: A rare male example with Graham as the widow(er).
- Second Love
- Single Woman Seeks Good Man: Both women.
- Sliding Scale of Idealism vs. Cynicism: Firmly on the side of idealism.
- Suicide as Comedy: Iris's brief experimentation with her gas stove
- Throw It In: Dustin Hoffman's cameo in the video store scene was not part of the intended shoot; he had simply stopped by the local Blockbuster on the night they were shooting, and director Nancy Meyers asked him if he could make a quick cameo. The scene plays out with Miles, a music composer, picking up famous titles off the racks and singing the main theme for that film to amuse Iris; he then picks up The Graduate and starts singing "Mrs. Robinson", which catches the attention of Dustin Hoffman nearby, who simply shakes his head and mutters to himself, "Can't go anywhere..."
- Unable to Cry: Amanda
- Your Cheating Heart