In Last Holiday, directed by Wayne Wang, a kitchen salesperson at Kragen Department Store in New Orleans, Georgia Byrd (played by Queen Latifa), is diagnosed with a terminal illness. She has three weeks to live, according to her physician. The film is a retake of a 1950 classic film with Alec Guinness (as George Bird) that was filmed at an expensive English resort hotel. After learning that her HMO will not finance an operation that might save her life, she decides to cash in all her bonds and other savings to go to a place where she can blow all her money--Karlovy Vary, an expensive mountaintop health resort in the Czech Republic, as known as Karlsbad, which has been frequented by kings, queens, and other notables for centuries. The comedic implications are not entirely clear at first, but she has a habit of overcoming adversity with a creative use of her cash and as a smiling conveyor of homespun personal advice. First of all, she is cramped in tourist class on the Czech airline, so she splurges by moving to first class. Instead of waiting interminably in the cold for a taxi to the resort, she charters a helicopter. When she arrives before her reserved room is ready, she elects to move into the presidential suite at the Grandhotel Pupp. Her clothing is unsuitable for the posh resort, so she buys fantastic new outfits from the hotel's dressmaker shop. Rather than choosing one of the specialties for dinner, she orders them all, thereby befriending the Chef Didier (played by Gerard Dépardieu). While taking a massage, a customer bitches to her masseuse, whereupon Georgia comes to the aid of the masseuse to shush the complainer. At the gambling table, where the odds are against her, she wins approximately $100,000. A stuffy hotel employee, Ms. Gunther (played by Susan Kellerman), is won over on reading her scribbled last will and testament that she has a terminal illness. One of the hotel patrons is none other than Mr. Kragen (played by Timothy Hutton). The sight of the chef lavishing so much attention on Georgia stimulates overcompetitive Kragen into action, at first on the gambling table, later is sports, and finally he solves the mystery of her identity by exposing her as a mere employee at one of his stores, but she turns his attempt at humiliation again into a golden opportunity to demonstrate that she is a saint. However, the resort is the site for some political intrigue, and Georgia straightens that out, too. U.S. Senator Dillings (Giancarlo Esposito), Congressman Stewart (played by Michael Nouri), and retail store giant Kragen (played by Timothy Hutton) are eating at the same table, the latter trying to curry favor with the sleazy politicians so that he can overcome "overregulation." Clearly, Kragen is paying their way. Kragen also has his mistress (played by Alicia Witt) along, but Georgia's exemplary behavior even prompts her to quit her role as his lap dog. Accordingly, Kragen climbs out on a ledge, drinking directly from a bottle, presumably contemplating suicide, and once again Georgia saves the day for him with some simple advice. A happy ending awaits filmviewers who will leave the cinema after enjoying many hearty laughs. A sequel or television series may even spin off. MH
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