Block, it was filmed in both California and in England and stars Kate Winslet and Cameron Diaz as Iris and Amanda, two lovelorn women from opposite sides of the Atlantic Ocean, who arrange a home exchange to escape heartbreak during the Christmas and holiday season.

Coming across Iris's listing of her Surrey cottage on a home swap website, she messages her, and the two agree to switch houses for two weeks starting the next day.

He reveals that he never tells new romantic partners about his daughters, because compartmentalizing his life helps him deal with the overwhelming responsibility of being a single working father, and he does not want to bring a woman into the girls' lives unless the relationship definitely has a future.

Rufus Sewell plays Jasper Bloom, Iris's emotionally needy ex-boyfriend, while Edward Burns appears as Ethan, Amanda's unfaithful composer boyfriend whom she breaks up with in the beginning of the film.

The film also cast Bill Macy as Ernie and Shelley Berman as Norman, friends of Arthur, as well as Kathryn Hahn as Bristol and John Krasinski as Ben, Amanda's employees.

[19] Principal photography began in the Brentwood area on the Westside of Los Angeles, where real Santa Ana winds reportedly gave Meyers and her team a winter day as warm as scripted in the screenplay.

[19] Although Amanda's home is set in Brentwood, the exterior scenes at the gated property were actually filmed in front of Southern California architect Wallace Neff's Mission Revival house in San Marino, a suburb adjacent to Pasadena.

[19] The UK part of the film was partially shot in Godalming and Shere, a town and village in the county of Surrey in South East England that dates back to the 11th century.

The site's critical consensus states "While it's certainly sweet and even somewhat touching, The Holiday is so thoroughly predictable that audiences may end up opting for an early check-out time.

[25] In her review for USA Today, Claudia Puig found that The Holiday "is a rare chick flick/romantic comedy that, despite its overt sentimentality and fairy-tale premise, doesn't feel cloyingly sweet."

"[26] Carina Chocano, writing for the Los Angeles Times noted that "like a magic trick in reverse, The Holiday reveals the mechanics of the formula while trying to keep up the illusion."

"[27] Rex Reed from The New York Observer noted that "at least 90% of The Holiday is a stocking-stuffer from Tiffany's ... so loaded with charm that it makes you glow all over and puts a smile in your heart."

"[29] Justin Chang from Variety wrote that while "Meyers' characters tend to be more thoughtful and self-aware (or at least more self-conscious) than most ... this overlong film isn't nearly as smart as it would like to appear, and it willingly succumbs to the very rom-com cliches it pretends to subvert."

Winslet weeps and moans without sacrificing her radiance or sympathy, while the marginally less teary-eyed Law effortlessly piles on the charm in a role that will have some amusing resonances for tabloid readers.

She felt that The Holiday "has charming moments and a hopeful message for despondent singles, but it lacks the emotional resonance of Meyers' Something's Gotta Give (2003) and the zaniness of What Women Want (2000).

In December 2022, it was rumored that a sequel to The Holiday was in preproduction, with Cameron Diaz, Jude Law, Kate Winslet and Jack Black all signing on to reprise their roles from the original.