Type: Romantic
Film: The Holiday
Featured Characters: Graham Simpkins and Amanda Woods
Graham Simpkins and Amanda Woods—where does one even begin? Sometimes, I can’t believe how much The Holiday packs into a single movie while it balances two gorgeous love stories with complex character journeys. But then again, I can; it’s why it’s so iconic and why so many of us keep returning to it every year.
The most impressive detail about Graham and Amanda’s relationship is how many tropes Nancy Meyers plays with and how effectively they each thread together to create a relationship that underscores the importance of finding a true partner. Strangers to friends to lovers has never looked better, a one-night-stand that leads to forever? Yes, please. Single dad? Sign me up.
Full Transparency Makes Graham and Amanda’s Relationship Work
Talk about a meet-cute. The way Graham barges in the night before Amanda is getting ready to leave, while she fully believes this arrangement was a mistake, only to realize that kissing a stranger might actually be the thing she needs? Nancy Meyers, you can do no wrong. They’re open right from the start, making it surprisingly easy for them to trust each other and for us as viewers to be invested in their relationship. Yes, he’s drunk. Yes, they think they’ll never see each other. It’s absolutely awkward, and yet…it works. Because right at the start, they both need to feel something without any strings, and it’s that very something that effortlessly morphs into everything.
Here, physical chemistry is established, and where The Holiday shines best is when Amanda meets Graham’s daughters, Sophie and Olivia. It’s during this scene that she sees his whole heart, and it’s also where he realizes that what he once had to hide from other women, he can open up with her. Seriously, Meyers bringing in the single dad trope here is a boss move, and I applaud her for it. Because it’s also during these moments where we can visibly see Graham fall head-over-heels in love with Amanda, which Jude Law is so dazzling at delivering that I don’t have the words for it. We can visibly see his heart unclasp with the understanding that loving someone again might be worth potentially losing them.
And with this, it’s so fitting that he’s the first to say I love you because he also knows what loss is like and how deeply it punctures. The riveting thing about The Holiday is that Meyers genuinely delivers a story that fully shows us everything with so few words. Graham doesn’t have to voice how grief hurts him because the drinking reveals that, as does the expression on his face when he spells out widower. We can tell that letting someone in is challenging, but we also know that he’s a man with big feelings, and therefore, he wants that second chance at love. He wants someone he can come home to every night so he won’t have to drunkenly crash at his little sister’s house. He wants someone to lie in the fort with and to raise his girls with. And that longing is undoubtedly present in his decisions to consistently be transparent with Amanda, answering all her questions candidly and not fearing her reaction.
The Tender Longing Shows Us Everything
Considering The Holiday is a film I watch yearly, I often find myself fixating on something different each time. This year, it’s how we see Graham editing in bed while his kiddos are asleep and he’s visibly missing Amanda, wanting to be beside her. It’s also the way he’s openly weeping when she runs back into the cottage after their goodbyes. And it all boils down to the tenderness in their interactions.
We’re not all obsessed with Graham because he’s a hot nerd who wears glasses, but because he’s a man who isn’t afraid of being vulnerable. He is, in every way, a man written by a woman—so soft and kind that, of course, a woman who hasn’t cried since she was fifteen would find herself in tears over him. When Graham kisses Amanda, he worships her. Yes, even in the beginning, because he realizes that while she’s definitely been kissed before, she hasn’t been revered. Soft and slow and so achingly tender.
He’s a man who knows a woman’s value, and Amanda is someone who needs the reminder that she’s worth everything. She’s enough, as she is, whether she’s able to cry or not. She’s worth it when she falls apart, and she’s worth it when she’s strong. He intentionally shows her just how valuable she is every time they’re together by paying attention to her in ways no one else has before.
Time matters when it comes to establishing lasting relationships, but sometimes, forced (or, in this case, close) proximity can speed things up. Part of the reason it’s easy for Amanda to upend her entire life for this man and this new life in London is because of everything he proves to her. Actions matter, and everything he does gives her the space to be her truest self. In doing so, it allows Amanda to see that she doesn’t have to become anyone else to be deserving of his adoration. She can confess whatever she wants, and he’ll take it without judgment, making their short time spent together feel longer and more profound.
We don’t know if Graham and Amanda will make it past New Year’s Eve, but I think we can be confident that they will. Between the transparency in their interactions, the unmistakable chemistry, and the undeniable adoration they both feel, it’s fairly obvious that New Year’s Eve turns to Valentine’s Day, which then results in birthdays. How they manage their living situation is something that’s left to the imagination, and in my head, she’d move to London because LA is, well, meh.
The thing is, and again, I sometimes cannot believe how much is featured in this single movie. The longing looks, the stolen smiles, every little touch and brush of their fingers, the soft and slow kisses, the way they laugh together? If I say Jude Law and Cameron Diaz are at their best here? I’d be right. Because the amount of heart and vulnerability they convey is no small feat in delivering a romance that’s outright magical. The way he bites his lip in the car while looking at her? This is why romance writers write about every little detail. Releasing the breath he was holding and finally allowing himself to feel content when she’s back in his arms at the end? Unparallelled. It’s addicting. It’s profound and impactful, and it makes The Holiday a perfect movie. Period.
First Featured Image Credit: ©Universal Pictures