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Live as though today is your last

This is the lesson brought to heart in Queen Latifah's 'Last Holiday'


What would you do if you found out that you only had a few more weeks to live? That is exactly what Georgia Byrd experienced in the movie “Last Holiday.”

Queen Latifah and LL Cool J star in the comedy that shows what one woman does in her last weeks of life.

Georgia Byrd, played by Queen Latifah, is a shy associate in a department store. She has worked in the stores cooking ware department for years. She absolutely loves cooking, and her co-worker, Sean Matthews, played by LL Cool J. While their love seems to be going nowhere, Byrd finds out that she has a disease, which causes spots on her brain, which will cause her to die.

Byrd has kept a scrapbook that she calls “Possibilities” that include places in the world she wants to visit, people she wants to meet, and pictures of Matthews. Upon finding out that she will die soon, she cashes in all of her stocks and bonds and leaves her job to go for an upscale vacation in Europe.

While in Europe, she stays at the Grandhotel Pupp, a ritzy hotel where only the rich and famous stay. She goes on a shopping spree, gets beauty treatments and massages, and dines in the hotel’s upscale restaurant with a world famous chef.

Though Byrd is only a normal American woman, with her new wardrobe, she looks like she is rich and famous herself. She draws the attention of everyone in the hotel because of her kindness, presence and good nature, including the senator from her home state of Louisiana, the owner of the department store she once worked for and the chef of the restaurant. Upon making her new friends, she embarks on many new adventures that will leave you laughing until you cry!

Meanwhile, back home in Louisiana, Matthews begins to wonder where Byrd is and sets out to find her.

This movie contains so many great elements of faith, love, laughter, hope, adventure and just a little sadness. Being set in the snow-covered Alps with the ancient European architecture, the setting is breathtaking! It will make you want to take an extravagant European vacation yourself!

I thought that the movie was great! It kept my constant attention and made me laugh hysterically. I never looked at my watch to find out what time it was because, honestly, I did not want the movie to end. Queen Latifah and LL Cool J presented their characters with so much heart and humor.

“Last Holiday” is rated PG-13.