Film / Holiday in the Sun

Holiday in the Sun is a movie starring Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen. Twin sisters Alex and Madison go on a surprise family vacation to the Bahamas after looking forward to a trip with friends in Hawaii. Instead of having their "first chance at independence," their antics with parties and boys have to compete with their parents' expectations.

Just when their parents start to give them free rein to do as they please, however, the sisters get wrongly arrested for smuggling ancient native artifacts, and their parents keep them closer than ever for the remainder of the trip. However, Alex's vacation boyfriend, Jordan, is still being framed for the crime, and it's down the Alex, Madison, and their parents' friends' son, Griffin, to prove his innocence.

This film includes examples of:

A-G

• Acoustic License: An early scene shows Alex, Madison, and Griffin going to a party in a nightclub. When they and others at the party are talking, they can always hear every word each other says.
• Acting Your Intellectual Age: Zigzagged with Keegan. While she seems to have more fulfilling conversations with teens and adults than kids closer to her own age, she seems to enjoy being Griffin's Annoying Younger Sibling, and she is stated to be watching Teletubbies at one point.
• Adults Are Useless: It is up to Alex, Madison, and Griffin to clear Jordan's name while he's in jail for smuggling antique artifacts.
• All Is Well That Ends Well: Jordan isn't the least bit upset after he spent a couple of days in jail, presumably awaiting trial for a crime he committed unknowingly.
• Alpha Bitch: Brianna Wallace is this to a tee, even outside of a high school setting.
• Annoying Younger Sibling: Keegan likes to tease Griffin about his obvious crush on Madison.
• Aren't You Forgetting Someone?: Griffin has two of these moments, both due to his infatuation with Madison:
  • From his introduction:
    Griffin: Hey, Madison. [beat]
    Keegan: Aaaaaaand?
    Griffin: And Alex.
  • Later, when Madison is describing a guy who likes her but is afraid to say so, Griffin thinks she's talking about him. In reality, she's talking about Scott.
• Atlantis: Conversed briefly by Griffin and Madison... just before Madison turns the conversation to the boy she likes.
• Bad Date: Madison has a few of these in a row with Scott, culminating in their breakup.
• Beach Kiss: When Griffin gets his long-awaited kiss with Madison, the two of them are walking along the beach.
• Be Careful What You Wish For: Alex and Madison once have a conversation about how they miss their parents giving them rules and instructions. However, they're less than thrilled after their parents put them on short leashes after bailing them out of jail.
• Bitch Alert: Brianna is introduced by cutting ahead of Alex and Madison in line at the hotel reception desk, and then giving the receptionist a hard time.
• Blatant Lies: Griffin gives one of these when Keegan catches him checking Madison out:
  Griffin: I wasn't watching Madison, I was... scanning the horizon for ships.
• Brainless Beauty: Scott.
• Bratty Half-Pint: Keegan.
• Cassandra Truth: When Alex, Madison, and Griffin get arrested for smuggling antique artifacts, they tell the police and their parents about the yacht they went to. Nobody in either group believes them.
• Cast Full of Rich People: Alex's and Madison's father is a CEO, Griffin's and Keegan's father is an executive at his company, and Brianna Wallace's father owns a chain of department stores. Justified by the luxury resort which the movie is set.
• Chase Scene: In boats at the end of the movie. Alex, Madison, and Griffin steal the yacht they'd visited just before getting arrested to give the police a reason to come aboard. However, the evidence is hidden, so the two girls have to scramble to find the stolen artifacts on the yacht while Griffin sails away to buy them time.
• Chekhov's Gun: Jill mentions to Alex and Madison during their shopping trip that it's illegal to trade in genuine antiquities in the Bahamas. Later on, the two of them, along with Griffin and Jordan, get arrested for smuggling antiquities.
• Chekhov's Gunman: There is more to Champlain, for whom Jordan works on the side, than meets the eye.
• Chick Magnet: Jordan.
• Cool Boat: The yacht that's used for smuggling antique artifacts.
• Decoy Protagonist: Inverted with Brianna, who is a decoy antagonist. After plaguing the group for most of the movie in her bid for some alone time with Jordan, she fades into the background, while Champlain becomes the antagonist.
• Did I Mention It's Christmas?: The movie revolves around a Christmas trip to the Bahamas, but nothing Christmas-related is ever shown.
• Did Not Get the Girl: Ends up happening with Scott after he screws up several times on dates with Madison. It doesn't even help that Griffin is acting as his crutch for some of them.
• Direct to Video: Like most of the Olsen Twins movies.
• Disco Dan: Averted with Harrison, who states outright that he likes the newfangled rap music played in the background.
• Dogged Nice Guy: Griffin has had a crush on Madison for a long time. He's learned so much about her, it almost crosses into Stalker with a Crush territory.
  • Played for laughs with Jeffrey, a young boy who shows interest in Keegan on the beach. Lampshaded by Keegan in a muttered remark to a bartender:
    Keegan: This kid doesn't know when to quit.
• Double Date: The dynamic when Alex and Madison go out with Jordan and Griffin respectively.
• Drama Bomb: Just when Brianna ceases to be an important character and their parents start to let loose and have fun, Alex, Madison, Griffin, and Jordan get arrested for smuggling antiquities.
• Dumbass Teenage Son: Inverted with Griffin, who is about to start collage at age 16.
• Dumb Jock: Scott.
• Establishing Character Moment: Griffin is shown saying hello to Madison and only Madison... even though she's right next to her twin sister.
• Explain, Explain... Oh, Crap!: Alex has one of these when the police start chasing them on the stolen yacht:
  Alex: Let them catch us. They'll come aboard, find the evidence, and... oh no, what evidence?!
• Fanservice: Fanservice for teens, that is. At different points in the movie, all the teen boys are shown in swim trunks, and all the teen girls in bikinis.
• Fiction 500: Brianna is the spoiled heiress of the fictional Wallace Department Stores.
• Flat Character: None of the characters develops all that much, with the exceptions of Alex and Madison, who learn to appreciate their parents more.
• Foreshadowing: An exchange between Alex and Madison indicates that the latter might be open to dating Griffin:
  Alex: Please don't tell me that you're up for hanging with Chad and Jill and their bratty daughter Keegan and their nerdy son Griffin.
  Madison: I don't know if you've noticed, but... Griffin isn't so nerdy anymore.
• Friendly, Playful Dolphin: Alex and Madison play with dolphins in one scene.
• Geek Physiques: Completely averted with Griffin, the ripped nerd.
• Gentle Touch vs. Firm Hand: Invoked by Judy regarding her warring instincts for parenting Alex and Madison after she bails her daughters out of jail:
  Judy: After last night, my head says, "Pull in the reins." But then I look at them. They're growing up so fast. My heart says, "Let them go." I know I have to be in the middle somewhere. I... just don't know exactly where that is.
• Get Out!: Jordan gets a double dose of this after Brianna declines to press charges against him after her noise complaint:
  Guard: Jordan Landers? You can go. Miss Wallace didn't want to press any charges.
  Jordan: But what about my friends?
  Guard: She didn't say anything about them.
  Jordan: Well, then I'm staying too.
  Guard: Out.
  Alex: Jordan, just go.
• Getting Crap Past the Radar: When Alex and Madison board their private plane with their father, they ask him if he's flying them to Hawaii to "hook up with our friends."
• Good-Times Montage: While Jordan is publicly singing Alex a love song, clips of fun moments between the two of them play on screen.
• Grade Skipper: 16-year-old Griffin is due to start college "next year."
• Grand Romantic Gesture: The love song that Jordan sings at a party for Alex.

H-Z

• Have We Met?: Brianna does this to Alex when she's first trying to steal Jordan from her as a way of insulting her.
• Hiding in Plain Sight: Alex, Madison, and Griffin find the missing yacht they visited docked in the marina. The owner had changed the name painted on the hull and the flag on the ship in order to disguise it.
• Hope Spot: After bailing Alex and Madison out of jail, Harrison and Judy give them a chance to explain themselves, and they are willing to see exactly what supporting evidence they have. Too bad both the yacht they visited and the shack where Jordan would always meet Champlain disappeared before the girls could show their parents.
• Imagine Spot: Alex and Madison both have essentially the same one at the beginning of the movie while in science class. Each one is on the beach, surrounded by attractive guys.
• Inconveniently Vanishing Exonerating Evidence: Alex and Madison try to show their parents the yacht they visited prior to getting arrested, but it's gone. Furthermore, Champlain's shack on the beach has also disappeared.
• Ironic Echo: When Griffin is giving Scott cheat sheets on impressing Madison, Scott often says "I have to go to the bathroom" to make his getaway when he runs out of things to say. After a particularly screwed up dinner date, Madison throws the line right back at him:
  Madison: Scott, I don't know what your problem is, but I think it's time for me to go to the bathroom.
• It Belongs in a Museum: The point of the Bahamian law which is so important to the plot: dealing in ancient local artifacts is illegal because they belong to the nation as a whole.
• It's All About Me: Brianna has this attitude about her vacation, and her attraction to Jordan.
  Brianna: I get what I want. And right now, I want Jordan.
• It Was Here, I Swear!: Alex's and Madison's reactions after both the yacht and Champlain's shack disappear.
• I Want My Beloved to Be Happy: Griffin, who likes Madison, gives Scott some pointers on things she likes in order to nudge him in the right direction. When Scott turns out to be a little slow in the head, Griffin uses things like large signs and walkie-talkies to try to force a good outcome on their dates. It doesn't work.
• Kindhearted Simpleton: Scott might be stupid, but he's more than nice enough to Madison.
• Metaphorgotten: Invoked multiple times by Madison, who seems to like explaining why commonly used metaphors don't make sense.
• Mobstacle Course: The first time that Alex, Madison, and Griffin sneak away from their parents to try proving Jordan's innocence, their objective is to find Champlain, for whom Jordan was on an errand when they were all arrested. When they finally find him, they have to chase him through a crowd of people. He gets away, escaping onto a boat.
• Not Even Bothering with the Accent: Jordan Landers lives in the Bahamas, but Ben Easter, who portrays him, uses a general American accent.
• No Warrant? No Problem!: Averted when Alex, Madison, and Griffin inform the police that they found the yacht they'd visited before getting arrested.
  Chief: We have search and seizure laws in this country, just like in yours.
• Open Mouth, Insert Foot: Scott tends to do this a lot.
  Scott: So do you like astronomy?
  Madison: I love astronomy!
  Scott: Me too! [beat] So what's your sign?
  Madison: That's astrology.
• Pair the Smart Ones: Although Madison isn't as "nerdy" as Griffin is, she has intellectual interests, like literature and astronomy.
• Parents as People: Harrison, Judy, Chad, and Jill all try their best as parents. None of them are perfect, but they all have good intentions. Plus, they all have their own likes, dislikes, strengths, and weaknesses that have nothing to do with parenting.
• Playing Sick: To give herself, Madison, and Griffin the opportunity to look for evidence to clear Jordan's name, Alex pretends to have an upset stomach.
• Properly Paranoid: When Alex and Madison see Jordan in town with Champlain, the latter is suspicious about what he's doing there - especially when he later gives each of them $40 in spending money. And Madison is right to think something suspicious is going on, even if she's wrong about Jordan knowing about it.
• Reasonable Authority Figure: Harrison and Judy give Alex and Madison lots of freedom, and usually refrain from punishments even when their daughters disobey them. They only resort to a punishment after Alex and Madison are arrested, and even then, they give the girls a chance to demonstrate their innocence.
  • The police chief is a by-the-book cop who listens to what everyone has to say (even teens who were recently in his jail), will change his tune when the situation calls for it, and is always polite to top it off.
• Rich Bitch: Brianna.
• Rule of Three: Used several times:
  • Alex and Madison get in trouble with their parents three times during the vacation. After the third time, their parents take away their freedom of movement.
  • Griffin assists Scott on three of his dates with Madison. She leaves the last one, weirded out, and then Scott confesses everything to her before they end things.
  • Alex, Madison, and Griffin have three encounters with the police revolving around the stolen antiquities. They prove the truthfulness of their story on the third encounter.
    • And on a related note, they board the yacht three times.
• Scenery Porn: Several times throughout the movie, the pinnacle occurring when Jordan takes Alex on a snorkeling date.
• Screw the Rules, I Have Connections!: Brianna invokes this when Jordan in hanging out with her, and he tells her that he should get back to work. Jordan and Alex both defy it, however.
• Screw the Rules, I Have Money!: Brianna seems to see her family fortune as an excuse to do whatever she wants without regard for social niceties.
• Serenade Your Lover: Jordan does the the public version for Alex, dedicating the song he sings to her at a party.
• Sesquipedalian Loquaciousness: Zigzagged with Keegan. She certainly knows how to use big words effectively, but she sometimes ditches them anyway in favor of other terms, even slang ones.
• Shark Pool: Never seen, but mentioned multiple times.
• She Is Not My Girlfriend: Shows up when Griffin first talks to Scott to coach him on talking to Madison:
  Griffin: I want to talk to you about Madison.
  Scott: Are you going with her, man??
  Griffin: No, give me a break.
• Shoo Out the Clowns: Scott is last seen at his disastrous dinner date with Madison, right before their breakup... which comes just in time for her to get arrested along with Alex, Jordan, and Griffin, and then having to prove Jordan's innocence.
• Shopping Montage: One of these appears when Judy takes Alex and Madison on a shopping trip in town.
• Speaking Like Totally Teen: Brianna is probably the worst offender, but all of the teenage characters are guilty of this to some degree.
• Spoiled Sweet: Possibly the case with Alex and Madison. Their family is undeniably wealthy, and their parents are not cheap when it comes to spending money on them.
• Swiss-Cheese Security: When they've found the yacht they've been looking for in the marina, Alex, Madison, and Griffin can just walk on board and do as they please without anything or anyone stopping them. As it turns out, they can even take it out for a joyride, and the police will only chased them after the fact.
• Teen Drama: Naturally.
• The Scapegoat: Jordan was meant to be this after getting arrested for smuggling antiquities. Defied in the end by Alex, Madison, and Griffin when they prove his innocence.
• The Shrink: Jill is a licensed psychologist, and she occasionally tries to psychoanalyze the people around her. For example, she asks if Harrison is angry because he states that he likes rap music that sounds angry to her.
• Third Wheel: Averted with Alex when she joins Madison and Griffin in exonerating Jordan. Although Madison and Griffin are dating at this point, it's not the least bit awkward.
• Too Dumb to Live: Alex, Madison, and Griffin steal the yacht, thus inviting the police to chase them, before locating the priceless artifacts that they are sure are on board. Alex and Madison have to scramble to locate them while Griffin buys them time to look.
• Wealthy Yacht Owner: Mark Saxon... who might or might not be Jordan's sometimes employer, Champlain.
• Wham Shot: The shot when the police lights come on, culminating in the arrests of Alex, Madison, Griffin, and Jordan.
  Chief: You will all stand perfectly still.
• Wild Teen Party: Averted. Alex and Madison both party and get into trouble during the course of their vacation, but the trouble they get into never have anything to do with partying. In fact, the parties they go to are all pretty tame.
• Workaholic: Chad has shades of this. Harrison has to direct him "to stop all business for five days," and he still can't resist "punching numbers," prompting Harrison to call him out.
  Harrison: You know what your problem is? You don't know how to have fun.
• Work Hard, Play Hard: Harrison is the CEO of a company, but that doesn't prevent him from letting loose while on vacation.