Reel Review Roundup

Last Christmas (M)

Directed by: Peter Feig

Starring: Emilia Clarke, Henry Golding, Michelle Yeoh, Emma Thompson

Three and a half stars

Review by: Julian Wright

Kate (Emilia Clarke) is a bit of a mess. She is in her mid-20’s, couch surfs, has no direction, lets all her friends down and has a prickly relationship with her family.

While (barely) working as an elf in a year ‘round Christmas store run by her sassy boss Santa (Michelle Yeoh), she meets the super charming, very put together, but a little mysterious Tom (Henry Golding).

They hang out a few times, there is a bit of banter and opposites begin to attract as the pair get romantically involved, but Tom has a secret straight out of a Nicholas Sparks novel.

Last Christmas follows the festive holiday season rom-com routine fairly closely, with a script co-written by Emma Thompson and with Bridesmaids, The Heat and Spy helmer Paul Feig behind it, this is a fun, frothy, and briskly paced charmer.

The irresistible cast elevates it, with Clarke an absolute charmer to rival Julia Roberts and Golding the handsome, sensitive eye-candy is her perfect match. But Yeoh and Emma Thompson (as Kate’s Yugoslavian mum) almost steal it from the central stars with their bright performances and terrific comedic timing.

The cheesy twist is treated like a ground-breaking shocker, but anyone paying close enough attention could probably pick it up fairly early on. The hints aren’t all that subtle.

Setting it all to George Michael’s music is a nice touch, but still a bit of a head scratching move. It doesn’t make a whole lot of sense, but it’s there and it’s fine.

Last Christmas is a worthy addition to the list of films that get dusted off once a year for another spin during the festive season.

This entry was posted on November 10, 2019 at 2:31 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.