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.

A lot of "Lena's Holiday" feels pointless (like Pat Morita's cameo near the start) and almost improvisational; the budget is limited, and there are long stretches of very little happening. Yet, in the last 20 minutes or so, I realized the purpose of this movie: it is to bring the classic romantic-thriller formula of films like "Charade" up to date. Because the crime plot had been strictly peripheral until then, the plot twists surprised me completely. And Felicity Waterman gives a winning performance as the fish-out-of-water heroine; she is also extremely convincing as an East German - in fact, I actually thought the actress WAS German until I checked out her bio and found out she is British! **1/2 out of 4.

This film is based upon mixed up luggage at L.A.X.and crooks chasing someone as a result. I can think of at least two movies that were loosely based on the same concept, which came out much earlier than this.Out of Bounds with Anthony Michael Hall and Into The Night with Jeff Goldblum.Chris Lemmon has a very appealing and natural screen presence. What a bizarre twist of fate that his career never took off, yet less appealing actors' careers did. Even being the son of a world famous actor didn't propel him to the next level. That's a shame, because he is wonderful in this role.The lead actress fit her role beyond perfection, because they didn't want her to be smoking-hot like some chick born and raised in the free world. But they still needed her to be above average, in order to hold the male viewer. (She is supposed to be from East Germany)This lady was a bit too thin and sported the accent of an unappealing national identity, (East German), so it wasn't like she was a voluptuous Swedish blonde.Nevertheless, at times she played up her femininity and then she was hot enough.What really marks this film as unique is that it's also based upon an historical milestone (Berlin wall coming down/End of European Communism), and plays off of that dynamic. It was filmed in 1990, right after that event and its' historical paradigm shift took place in '89.Add to the mixture the fact that 1990 marked the beginning of the end of white middle class culture in Los Angeles. The world-rocking events of '89 put an end to the Cold War and our need for lots of Aerospace innovation. This eroded the L.A. economy, which had been filled with good-paying Aerospace Engineer and support jobs.Then just two years later the L.A. riots pushed more middle class folks out, and the floodgates of illegal immigration opened wider to fill the void. So the movie is showing you an L.A. on the cusp of change, although one would not necessarily know that if they were watching it when it came out.1990 also marks the beginning of the end of 80s culture in L.A. So I loved to catch any musical or style-related motifs in this movie. Having said that, it did not have an abundance of synth-pop music, since James Dean and the 50s were a major theme of the movie and the main character drives a car from that era.The gangster stuff and the horribly miscast Nick Mancuso were huge errors, but the cuteness of the characterizations of our two main protagonists saved this film from oblivion. Watch it with your partner and bring some popcorn. I watched it alone, and on an empty stomach. It wasn't satisfying enough to fulfill me, but would have been with the latter two enhancements.

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.