Wayne Wang was a director people watched. The Joy Luck Club, Smoke, and to a lesser degree, Blue in the Face were the kinds of films that left both mainstream and contemporary indie cinema behind. Then something went wrong – Wang lost his nerve, swam back to shallow waters and dragged join-the-dots nonsense of Maid in Manhattan and Because of Winn Dixie with him. Things haven’t changed much as the insipid dramatics of his latest, Last Holiday, reveals.

Georgia (Queen Latifah) is an ordinary woman who dreams of little more than making a home with the guy she works with (LL Cool J). You can probably smell where this is going from the title alone and sure to formula, Georgia discovers she has four weeks to live. In fine capitalist tradition, she decides to spoil herself and the first stop is Prague for a spot of skiing. Spending considerably more than anyone could save on a lifetime of clipping coupons, she dons Versace, diamonds and generally woos all those around her with homespun wisdom. Then the guy flies over and, well, do you really need me to spell it out?

Most discouraging is the Academy Award nominated Latifah herself. Sleepwalking through the role, none of her considerable talent is on show – perhaps she’s saving it for Hairspray. Granted she’s saddled  with lame material that, narrative inconsistencies aside, only serves to endorse American self-indulgence. If you want real insight about black women facing terminal illness, rent a death episode of The Cosby Show (there’s bound to be one); it would be more rewarding, more inspiring and a hell of a lot shorter. Note to Wang: next time you go on a European winter holiday, don’t make a film about it.

// COLIN FRASER