Last Christmas
Directed by: Paul Feig
Runtime: 103 minutes
It is that time of year again! Baubles are appearing in shops, children are starting their lists for the jolly red man to visit, and Starbucks has dropped gingerbread lattes, peppermint mochas, and whatever other concoction they managed to dream up this year. This means Christmas must be around the corner, with Last Christmas dropping in at the perfect moment.
Last Christmas is a thoroughly heartwarming, acidicly-sweet film that can settle itself just below Love, Actually and above Netflix juggernauts like A Christmas Prince. Written by Emma Thompson (who also stars) and directed by Paul Feig (Ghostbusters, Bridesmaids) the film tells the story of Kate (Emilia Clarke, Game of Thrones, Me Before You) a singer, avid George Michael fan, and all round cynic who works in a Christmas shop and is having trouble reconnecting with life following a serious illness. That is, of course, until she encounters the strange, attractive Tom (Henry Golding, Crazy Rich Asians) and discovers, through his kindness, generosity, and good heart, herself again.
Thompson blends familiar Christmas tropes we’ve come to depend on through the years (Dickens’ A Christmas Carol is clearly the heaviest influence) into one story in Last Christmas. The cynicism of the main character, the joy of the love interest, the interfering or overbearing families with the overlooked sibling, and the eventual softening of the main character as they discover the Christmas spirit and their metaphorical wounds heal are all deftly handled in this film without it being too clunky or feeling forced. The writing is so familiar that, if it hadn’t been advertised that Emma Thompson had written and starred in this film, you could be forgiven for thinking Richard Curtis had decided to churn out another Christmas film.
This doesn’t mean that Last Christmas is a bad film; it’s just a film that’s predictable enough to be comfortable, and is self-aware enough to know it and is earnest anyway. In a lot of ways, that it’s comfortable and earnest saves the story from being too predictable and boring.
Despite this predictable comfort, I genuinely enjoyed this film. Emilia Clarke’s performance as Kate was a major contributor to my enjoyment of this film, as Clarke puts all her energy into the character. Kate isn’t precisely the most likeable of characters at the beginning of the film and Clarke’s performance sweetens her with humour and flashes of cheekiness that underscore both her likeability as an actress (when she’s not asked to turn Mad Queen) and rescues a character that, despite the prerequisite redemption arc these movies promise, would have dragged the film down. You end up forgiving Kate for her poor choices and cynicism and cheering her on as she begins the process of redeeming herself with the help of the volunteering, an even more cynical boss named Santa (Michelle Yeoh in a hilarious performance she clearly relishes) who’s romantic subplot is both funny and used to nudge Kate’s redemption along, and, of course, Tom.
Henry Golding is good as Tom although his character is a bit paint-by-numbers but Golding works with what he’s got and is somehow charming when his character is judgemental and sweet to Kate’s cynicism. His chemistry with Clarke is sweet and their romance, though not earth shattering in the rom-com way, simmers along well enough. Emma Thompson’s comedic timing is on point in this film, her Yugoslavian mother is outlandish without slipping into caricature and given surprising depth with shades of Brexit slipping through her backstory as an immigrant afraid of being told to go back where she came from. Their characters and performances support Clarke’s and solidify this film as less of a rom-com and more of a film about finding yourself again.
All in all, Last Christmas is a pleasant film, cozy in the sense that it’s familiar and spiced like the gingerbread lattes you should sip when watching this film. If you have a spare afternoon and want to watch something easy, vaguely familiar, with a touch of heart, Last Christmas is not the worst thing you could pick.
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