A Vida é Mesmo Assim

Caught this movie on the Black Entertainment Network while

flipping channels. It was a pleasant surprise!!! Entertaining! Funny

and heart tugging all at once.

When a young girl cries for help for her mom who is being beaten

up by her boyfriend, the only one to help is a drag queen--Holiday

Heart-- who packs a punch. He befriends the duo taking them to

his home and they become a family in spite of their differences.

All is well until another man comes along putting a rift between the

mother and Holiday. Then Drugs pull the mom away from the

family.

I found Holiday;s need for a family heartbreaking and truthful--and

it was an incredible portrayal. Also great are Alfre Woodward and

the young girl.

There are a couple of holes in the plot but this story of a drag

queen with a heart of gold really packs an emotional wallop. What

a sleeper. Highly recommended

Holiday Heart is the tale of Holiday, a talented drag queen and how his life intertwines with the lives of a young girl named Nikki and her mother, who tries to kick a drug habit during the course of the film. Holiday is at first accepted by the mother and child after he saves them from an abusive relationship, only to be rejected by them when a new love enters the mother's life. The new love is a drug dealer, but does not approve of the mother using drugs. She eventually goes back to the drugs and he cuts her loose. After she disappears Holiday has to step back in to help take care of Nikki, which he does, even though he has dreams of getting away to Paris to start a new life since he recently lost the love of his life.

Where do I start with this film? The acting is TOP NOTCH. Ving Rhames, who plays Holiday, gives one of the best performances I have ever seen in my lifetime. Alfre Woodard, who plays the mother, just steals the show though. Her portrayal of an addicted mother is so great that words can do it no justice. It really has to be seen. The child actor turns in an outstanding performance as the child distraught over her mother's problems. I was extremely impressed at how she was so adult in many scenes, due to the fact that such a life will cause a child to grow up very quickly.

I rate this a solid 10 out of 10. One of the greatest films I've ever seen.

I've seen lots of movies with Ms Woodard and not knowingly have seen Mr Rhames in his other movies. Pulp Fiction was way too intense for me and Holiday Heart was something that I decided to watch, but these two actors in this movie are AWESOME!!! Ms Woodard is so convincing as a full-blown, out-there-on-that-end drug user, then to see her as a ghost who needs to finish business on earth in Heart and Soul.......this woman is amazing! And Mr Rhames had me thinking he was indeed a drag queen outside of the movies! Dang, he's good!! One of the best scenes is in the drug store for Nikki and that's all I'm saying!! (Unfortunately, there are women who fit Ms Woodard's striking profile of the drug user and though some do end up as Wanda, many do make it through and become clean and go forward. I hope this was so for the lady who had to live the nightmare with her mother. (If this paragraph has to be removed because it's personal, I understand.))

This is absolutely the very best film that Ving Rames has ever made. His performance was amazing, totally outside of his expected roles. His portrait of a gay drag queen is exquisite. It shows a depth of understanding and empathy which has not been seen is years. His performance is more than deserving of an academy award, not withstandinq that this offering does not qualify for such an award.

What a surprise I had when I accidentally came across this movie. I saw Holiday Heart on Logo early one Saturday morning after dropping my partner off at the airport. I was basically killing time! NOT! I began watching the film and I simply couldn't stop! I was hooked after the first ten minutes.

This is really a great little film and I recommend it to everyone. It touches a lot of issues and the setting is so refreshingly different. I also think Ving did a brilliant job playing the main character. I am sure he is glad to have that as part of his CV.

As for the rest of the cast, I thought they all did a great job. It wasn't until later that I remembered where I had seen Mykelty Williams - Boomtown. He played a great supporting role! Its great that Logo is bringing this movie to us and I hope plenty of people get to see it.