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- 2015
- PG-13
- Lionsgate Films
- 1 h 35 m
- 2015
- PG-13
- Lionsgate Films
- 1 h 35 m
Summary Doug (David Tennant) and Abi (Rosamund Pike) take their kids on a family vacation. Surrounded by relatives, the kids innocently reveal the ins and outs of their family life and many intimate details about their parents. It's soon clear that when it comes to keeping a big secret under wraps from the rest of the family, their children are ...
Directed By: Andy Hamilton, Guy Jenkin
Written By: Andy Hamilton, Guy Jenkin
- 2015
- PG-13
- Lionsgate Films
- 1 h 35 m
- 2015
- PG-13
- Lionsgate Films
- 1 h 35 m
What We Did on Our Holiday
54
7.2
Where to Watch
Summary Doug (David Tennant) and Abi (Rosamund Pike) take their kids on a family vacation. Surrounded by relatives, the kids innocently reveal the ins and outs of their family life and many intimate details about their parents. It's soon clear that when it comes to keeping a big secret under wraps from the rest of the family, their children are ...
Directed By: Andy Hamilton, Guy Jenkin
Written By: Andy Hamilton, Guy Jenkin
Where to Watch
Top Cast
Metascore
Mixed or Average
Based on 14 Critic Reviews
54
43% Positive
6 Reviews
6 Reviews
43% Mixed
6 Reviews
6 Reviews
14% Negative
2 Reviews
2 Reviews
Metascore
Mixed or Average
Based on 14 Critic Reviews
54
43% Positive
6 Reviews
6 Reviews
43% Mixed
6 Reviews
6 Reviews
14% Negative
2 Reviews
2 Reviews
Bright, lively and funny.
What We Did On Our Holiday, written and directed by Andy Hamilton and Guy Jenkin, is replete with zingers, a quality not to be disdained in a family comedy of miscommunication.
User Score
Generally Favorable
Based on 24 User Ratings
7.2
71% Positive
17 Ratings
17 Ratings
25% Mixed
6 Ratings
6 Ratings
4% Negative
1 Rating
1 Rating
User Score
Generally Favorable
Based on 24 User Ratings
7.2
71% Positive
17 Ratings
17 Ratings
25% Mixed
6 Ratings
6 Ratings
4% Negative
1 Rating
1 Rating
“What We Did On Our Holiday” dissects family life also applying it with funny dark British humor and adult situations. The film makes it look like a cliche’d drama and there are aspects of it but then it goes in another direction, were glad it didn’t go into the wrong and dumb cliche’d direction because if it did this movie would be dumb; the film is not dumb or cliche’d, it’s an enormous heartwarmer that’ll steal your hearts and move you, and make you laugh at the silly stuff that’s these characters are doing. Doug (David Tennant) and Abi (Rosamund Pike) take their three children to Scotland, to celebrate his dad Gordy (played by Billy Connolly) turning seventy-five. At the midst of their divorce, Doug and Abi want their children to keep a secret and not tell their extended family. When the feud kicks in, it’s takes an unexpected events involving with the children, causes further tensions to rise to the service. The family has to put away their differences and work together or else losing what they hold. The writing and directing team Hamilton and Jenkin (creators of Outnumbered) craft together a joyful and emotional story onto film while the supporting cast is making great performances trying to portray these characters. It’s the best British comedy I have this year, since Paddington. Go see this movie! You’ll love the characters and love watching these stars portray the characters. What also is great is the child actors are self improvised in this movie while giving some star-making performances. Grade A
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What We Did On Our Holiday is an exceedingly funny comedy that definitely borders on Black Comedy but still tinkers in the realm of being light hearted. It has a very kind of Outnumbered feel to it in which the kids play their innocent, yet brilliantly irritating (to others not the audience) questions and resolutions.
The cast provides an exceptional performance both in the way of being dramatically emotional and hysterically funny. The films subject matter is quite bleak and possibly disturbing at times but it portrays it in such a kind of optimistic way and gives of a feel of genuine care towards all the issues the film brings up.
Rosamund Pike and David Tennant work brilliantly with each other, Billy Connolly play his typical fun loving and wise role as per usual, Ben Miller plays his role to perfection and the kids easily rival (and probably best) those from Outnumbered. The eldest child however, who has obviously meant to kind of be the moral anchor within all the carnage that was happening, was actually a bit more annoying but that may not have been her fault as she got hardly any of the jokes. Also, due to the fact she seems like she’s trying to act but not really achieving it doesn’t help, but still you can’t really give much hate to child actors.
Overall, an incredibly funny black comedy with an optimistic outlook and carefully dealt with subject matter. Definitely something to watch.
8/10
Report
What We Did On Our Holiday sets up a sturdy comic scenario and then proceeds to head in another direction altogether—one that’s nearly impossible to anticipate, making the film much more of a goofy delight than would have seemed likely at the outset.
There’s a good trickle of laughs running through this, and an observation of British familydom that’s just on the credible side of cringeworthy.
Re-creating the show’s winning formula of three amiably precocious young children trading smarts with fondly exasperated parents, the pic swings for a much more eventful story arc, with mixed results.
What We Did On Our Holiday could be used as a textbook example of how to ruin a movie with a bad third act.
“Holiday” is more palatable than similar, American-bred films like “The Family Stone” or This is Where I Leave You. Still, once Connolly’s sad-eyed, hippie-ish cancer sufferer is gone, there’s little reason to keep going.
With a divorce rate of 50% in the US, you'd think we'd have more films that show the affect this has on the kids. This film is from Britain but it shows how the kids react to the fighting, one parent being out of the home, etc. We also see the other brother's marriage and family, and how their parenting affects their son, and how he reacts. It's quite a mess but reflects real life these days. When will we push to have classes in high school to teach kids "who's the right one for you to marry" and "good parenting skills" so we can stop this downward spiral? Yeah, never.
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This falls into a category of British comedies that appear sweet and then go into dark humor territory with a bunch of jokes and not-so-jokey comments about the ways humans get along. Not trying for huge things, it attains more. Well shot, charmingly acted, esp. by the youngest daughter... it covers a great range of scenes and situations. My family loved it, tho the end is a bit abrupt and sweet.
Of special note is a relatively well-written bunch of bits for kids... their lines are sometimes humorously absurd, but do not cross over into adult territory... they stay believable for kids. That's a rare blast of reality you do not find in Hollywood often.
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Awards
BAFTA Awards, Scotland
• 2 Nominations
London Critics Circle Film Awards
• 1 Win & 1 Nomination
Valladolid International Film Festival
• 1 Nomination
