Amanda (Cameron Diaz) refuses to allow anyone, even her boyfriend, to get too close. Iris (Kate Winslet) frets that her sometimes lover, who's about to marry someone else, won't let her close enough. The women _ one in Los Angeles, the other in sleepy Surrey, England _ share an inclination to flee town the moment their love lives collapse. Through the miracle of travel Web sites, they trade houses for the holidays.

   Their respective adventures with the new and old men in their lives _ Rufus Sewell, Jack Black and Eli Wallach for Iris; Ed Burns and Jude Law for Amanda _ make up "The Holiday," which, though not terribly ambitious, is an engaging follow-up to "Love Actually." It's a romantic comedy with Christmas trees, though in this case we also get a Hanukkah celebration, friendship and lust, as well as a wonderfully sweet scene involving two little girls and a tent to which only Grinches will object.

   "The Holiday" was written and directed by Nancy Meyers ("Something's Gotta Give," "Baby Boom," "Private Benjamin"), who usually serves her comedy with a side of social commentary but now seems more interested in the ridiculous notes we hit when relationships turn sour. "Come on!" Amanda shouts at her soon-to-be ex. "Nobody has time for sex." He retaliates with an honest accusation: "You don't want to be what I need!"

   Meyers' wit keeps "The Holiday" on an even keel: Diaz, a natural comedian, glugs lustily straight out of a bottle of wine at the grocery store while Black's the-amphetimines-have-just-kicked-in riffs on movie scores lead to a surprise cameo and one of the film's biggest laughs. Even the usually serious Law manages his rake-but-not-really role with an Everyman adorableness you don't glimpse in "Cold Mountain" and the upcoming "Breaking and Entering." (Note to the skeptical: Yes, women know guys like this don't exist in real life. That's why we like to see them onscreen.)