Films So Good

The review may contain spoilers

I started watching “What We Did On Our Holiday” with extremely high expectations. The main reason was the cooperation of two of the greatest -and potentially legendary- British actors, Rosamund Pike (Abi) and David Tennant (Doug). They portrait a recently divorced couple with three children that decide to go together on holidays to celebrate Grandpa’s (Doug’s father played by Billy Connolly) 75th birthday party. Because Grandpa’s terminal illness, in order not to upset him, they haven’t announced him their separation.

The beginning of the movie reveals the anxiety of the writer to present a partly funny family movie. The first scenes are full of silly – but not funny – jokes such as Abi losing her house keys or the kids taking useless things to the trip.

Reaching father’s house in Scotland leads to a turn of the plot. The family meets Doug’s brother (Ben Miller) that madly tries to plan the party and his depressed wife (Amelia Bullmore). Abi and Doug continue fighting each other. Since Grandpa can’t stand any of them, he takes his grandchildren for a ride. So, the rest of the movie focuses to this special relationship with his grandchildren. Grandpa reveals them that he is going to die soon and their day ends visiting a blessedly peaceful beach, where the plot turns dark. This leads to the last part of the movie, the redemption one, that the family will be reunited once again.

“What We Did On Our Holiday” is a bittersweet and charming, worth watching movie. I would rather have seen, Pike and Tennant in a different context; in a movie that both of them would totally rock. Despite the fact that the movie’s center is different, the viewer won’t be dissapointed since both Billy Connolly and the kids give great perfomances. Finally, the magical landscapes of Scotland is another plus of the movie.

Movie Rating: 68/100