Title – What We Did on Our Holiday (2014)
Directors – Andy Hamilton and Guy Jenkin (feature debuts)
Cast – David Tennant, Rosamund Pike, Billy Connolly, Ben Miller, Emilia Jones, Bobby Smalldridge, Harriet Turnbull
Plot – On the day of their granddad Gordie’s (Connolly) 75th birthday, youngsters Lottie (Jones), Mickey (Smalldridge) and Jess (Turnbull) go on a day trip with their sick family matriarch that doesn’t exactly go to plan, much to the horror of the children’s parents Doug (Tennant) and Abi (Pike).
“Every human being on this planet is ridiculous in their own way”
Review by Eddie on 01/10/2015
An odd yet often charming Scottish production, What We Did on Our Holiday is an easy film to sit back and enjoy and features some great child performers that steal the show from their much more seasoned co-stars.
Sprinkled with a healthy dose of weird, directing duo Andy Hamilton and Guy Jenkin embed Holiday with an odd charm and flavour that may be too much for some and perhaps may even hamper viewers enjoyment who just might not of signed up to see young children dowse a corpse in gasoline. This odd centre at the core of Holiday however is what distinguishes it from a raft of other family oddball adventures and whilst there’s an air of predictability about some of the goings on here often the film veers into directions and scenarios that you won’t see coming which for modern day comedies is no mean feat.
In such comedies as Holiday it’s of the utmost importance that the dysfunctional family we’re spending our time with are despite their flaws endearing and while David Tenant and Rosamund Pike’s newly but secretly separated Doug and Abi aren’t overly worthy of our affections there trio of children are. Wonderfully played by Emilia Jones, Bobby Smalldridge and Harriet Turnbull, these three tykes have fantastic interplay and have a knack for out doing there elder statesman in the timing stakes and all drive Holiday to a higher level than there adult performers can muster up. With able support from veteran Billy Connolly for once the child performers are the true reason to invest your time into a movie of this ilk.
The story surrounding Holiday is a little slight and the film could’ve done with a few more truly laugh out loud jokes but at the end of the 90 minute trip to the Scottish Highlands which is highlighted by the sight of children getting amongst a makeshift Viking themed burial you’ll be pleased you’ve taken the time out to be with the McLeod family, despite the forgettable nature of much of what had come to pass.
3 gasoline covered grandads out of 5
Jordan and Eddie (The Movie Guys) 
I enjoyed this movie but it soooooo alike Rocket Gibralter that I kept comparing them against my will!
Nice comparison!
E
Hmm, I skipped this one last year; sounds like that might have been a mistake! Nice write-up!
Worth a look bud, a nice easy watch.
E
Okay I need to see this! Thanks for the awesome review 🙂
No worries A.B, hope you enjoy it.
E
I sure will 🙂
I didn’t like this as much as you did. The way Abi and Doug treat each other is so horrible that there is nothing enjoyable about watching them and while Connolly and the young actors who play the children are all brilliant the whole thing just doesn’t hang together.
Yeh I’d agree with the Abi and Doug call, that was a little bit awkward I must admit! I think Pike and Tennant shared a pretty strange chemistry.
E