Lena's Holiday

With the fall of the Berlin wall, East German, Lena (Felicity Waterman)goes on holiday in California. Except, only tours Los Angeles, and Lena is having the worst vacation, as nothing seems to go as planned; she learns that reservations she made for a hotel turned out to be phony, a cab driver rips her off, and worst of all, her luggage has conveniently been switched with that of a lady who suddenly winds up dead. Although, this is understandable, considering how gullible Lena is. You'd think she was new to the planet the way she fell for one stupid scam after the next.

Only the scams look good when compared to the fact that she is being pursued by hoods who have been watching her. When the dead lady's bag doesn't contain what they want, they go after Lena, knowing she has the same bag and was the last to see the other lady alive. They figure that she is in on the deal. Things seem to turn around when Lena unexpectedly befriends a fast-talking cab driver named Mike (Chris Lemmon as a sometimes arrogant, sometimes sincere guy), who helps her in sporadically timed moments of emergency.

'Lena's Holiday' is more of a dreamy love story and a comedy surrounding a vacation nightmare (but pretty soon only just love the story) than it is a caper, which you're only reminded off at certain convenient moments in the movie. I would say it is about 70% love story, 20% comedy about Lena's disastrous holiday misadventures (which is pretty much the entire intro), and 10% caper. It is still an enjoyable comedy, nonetheless.

Lena (Felicity Waterman) lives in East Germany, a country just liberated because of the fall of the Berlin Wall. A James Dean fan, she comes to California to visit the Hollywood scene in Los Angeles. However, she first lands in East Los Angeles, in a pretty dire neighborhood. Once she finds the genuine movie making neighborhood, she rests content. But, not for long! Her traveling baggage is mixed up with another woman's, a lady who turns up dead. Lena turns to erstwhile cab driver, Mike (Chris Lemmon) for help in the ensuing and dangerous situations that come her way. Will Lena really have a rest- and-relaxation vacation in LaLa Land? The two stars, Waterman and Lemmon, make this movie palatable. They are attractive and comedically gifted. The script is one of the been there, done that type, however, with little coherence at times. Conversely, the sunny scenery and costumes add to a pleasant viewing. If you are a romcom fan and would climb mountains for a nice kiss or two, you will be happy you took a chance with this film. Everyone else would probably be a bit bored and switch to E.R. reruns.

My review was written in October 1991 after watching the film on Prism video cassette.

Breezy romantic comedy "Lena's Holiday" showcases an engaging new actress Felicity Waterman. Direct-to-video release of the Crown International picture is quality light entertainment.

Waterma, previously seen in small roles in "Die Hard 2" and "Night of the Warrior", portrays Lena, an East German tourist whose misadventures in Los Angeles are lightly geared to the 1989 demise of the Berlin Wall.

Arriving at the airport her bags are switched with those of Dani Minnick, whose muder gets Lena in hot water. Almost everyone, ranging from photographer Nick Mancuso to cab driver Chris Lemmon, is anxious to help the beautiful German girl, except for criminals led by Michael Sarrazin.

Filmmaker Michael Keusch maintains a friendly, romantic tone to the proceedings, with numerous personalities like Bill Dana and Pat Morita popping up for comic relief. Lemmon acts as Lena's unofficial guardian angel in a warm turn that unlike most of his previous roles is careful not to ape the mannerisms of his famous dad, Jack.

Statuesque Waterman handles her German accent with aplomb and creates a charming character whose James Dan obsession makes for a diverting subplot.

Tech credits are fine in a film that fits snugly in the mode of Crown International's traditional drive-in movie fare.

I enjoyed the movie, partially because I was in rapture with Felicity Waterman. She is very attractive and did an excellent job portraying a naive East German girl coming to visit Hollywood. I even believed she was European, her accent seemed that good.

Also thought Chris Lemmon was good in his role. While obviously no way he could match his father's career, was surprised he didn't have a larger career. Seems like a very likable guy. Some excitement, some laughs, some love. I enjoyed the movie, would watch it again, even if only to see Ms. Waterman in that short dress. Somebody involved in creating this movie definitely had a thing for James Dean.

Lena's Holiday is certainly a slightly unusual release from b-movie producers Crown International Pictures. It's one of those uncommon films which combine the comedy and thriller genres, while it also has a title character travelling from an ex-Communist Bloc country which adds a bit of fish-out-of-water to the mix. The story is set in the immediate aftermath of the Berlin Wall coming down. An East German girl uses her new found freedom to visit Los Angeles. As soon as she arrives she finds herself mixed up with violent jewel thieves.

This is an odd mix of genres which results in a film which is hard to fully categorise. There is some comedy but that's offset by moments of murder and threat, so the comedy and thriller elements are almost pulling against one and other. Still, this does ensure that the film is a little different from what you would expect. It's actually not too bad an effort from Crown, who by this point in time were churning out quite a lot of under par efforts. The title character is played by English actress Felicity Waterman who sports a pretty funny accent, it's not always convincing but she is successfully amusing with it and she is undoubtedly the star of the show here in a very likable performance. There's also a completely superfluous appearance from Pat Morita as a slovenly hotel owner…well it was nice to know he was there. This is a pretty middling affair overall in truth but it does have a decent likability factor and it also has the bonus of not being too generic or predictable.