Last Christmas Review
PG-13: Language and sexual content
Runtime: 1 Hour and 43 Minutes
Production Company: Feigco Entertainment
Distributor: Universal Pictures
Director: Paul Feig
Writers: Emma Thompson, Bryony Kimmings
Cast: Emilia Clarke, Henry Golding, Michelle Yeoh, Emma Thompson
Release Date: November 8, 2019
It’s the holiday season in Britain and 26-year-old Yugoslavian Kate is at a low point in her life. Once a vibrant girl full life, she is now an utter mess. She diverts herself in a depressive lifestyle involving the consumption of gallons alcohol, daily one-night stands, and unintentionally becoming an agent of chaos towards everyone around her. Not being able to get your shit together is one thing, but Kate is the type of person who will destructively fuck up your entire day. Just when she seems like a lost cause, everything starts to look up when her world collides with a dashing man named Tom, whom she meets outside of the Christmas department shop she works at. A series of meet-cutes around the city between the two causes a romance to blossom. Through Tom’s charismatic wisdoms and optimistic point of view, Kate becomes motivated to get her shit together and better the relationships with the people in her life.
2018 was such a remarkable debut for actor Henry Golding. He starred in two of last year’s best comedies and became somewhat of a household name immediately. What can I say, the man’s a charmer. He brings such a strong, dignified, and charming presence along with an upbeat charismatic energy that reminds me of a young Hugh Grant. Golding is such a charmer no matter what material he’s given and hits all the areas to make you smile and/or swoon. While this doesn’t really challenge him to go beyond his natural charm, you see glimpses of his sillier side as he oftentimes dances around Clarke and takes her on some fun adventures. Given this is Clarke’s first leading role post-GoT, she gets to exhibit her comedic side—the side that we see in press interviews (“BEST SEASON EVER!”) or on her Instagram—and she does a great job commanding the screen. Clarke shines best whenever she shares the screen with Golding. The two have great chemistry. Hell, she’s also great when she’s with Michelle Yeoh who plays her boss. While Yeoh is doing her stern coldness bit again (at times justified by Kate’s many fuck-ups), you can see the history of their relationship through their interactions. Their scenes together gave me the most enjoyment and laughs, sometimes more so than her moments with Golding. Now, only if the script was… well… good.
Oh Paul Feig, bless you for trying your best to give such a mundane screenplay weight. But let’s be honest, Christmas was never a strong suit for him. Don’t get me wrong, I loved Unaccompanied Minors as a kid. I haven’t revisited it since I was 12, but that was long before he took the 2010s by storm and releasing some of the landmark comedies of the decade such as Bridesmaids and Spy. He has become such a signature visionary in comedies that you can tell when something is penned by him. Even when it’s not good, like The Heat and Ghostbusters, you still recognize his voice. Last Christmas may be directed by Feig and he does a great job making sure his ensemble delivers charismatic performances, but the screenplay is clearly far from anything up to par with his past works.
The script, provided by Emma Thompson and Bryony Kimmings, is bad. No other way to put it. The story is lyrical in the sense that it applies the chorus of “Last Christmas” to a straightforward holiday romance and it’s so underdeveloped in every angle it tries to spin. Through Kate’s character arc, several subplots begin to pop up and none are ever given any full development. There’s an area centered around Brexit and her parents being immigrants from Yugoslavia that never really goes anywhere. There is a subplot where Kate volunteers at a homeless shelter which ends in a big talent show. Then, there’s the relationship she shares with her sister, which bears resemblance to Fleabag's relationship with her sister Claire. While they’re entertaining to witness, they’re so undercooked that it leaves a bit of a poor aftertaste in consumption. Christmas is certainly the fast food of holidays, but this film is the fast food of Christmas movies. If you look past the grease and the questionable ingredients, then you’ll be able to enjoy it, but as a whole, this is a big-budget Hallmark Christmas movie at best.
Also, whenever Emma Thompson pens a feature she always tries to find a way to insert herself into it and give herself the best lines. It was the case in Bridget Jones's Baby, but certainly not here. Thompson plays Kate’s Yugoslavian mom, which means one thing: she gets to put on a crazy thick European accent even though Emma Thompson is English, so the entire thing is muddled.
Last Christmas prides itself on being inspired by the music of George Michael (even though “Last Christmas” was made by Wham) yet, it never properly uses any of his songs aside from the titular one, which is literally the plot of the movie. This might have the worst usage of the song “Freedom 90” I’ve ever witnessed in a movie. The Key & Peele movie Keanu was a better love letter to George Michaels than this.
The overall tone is ridiculously inconsistent; while it tries to be light-hearted and full of cute yuletide cheer, there are dark elements to Kate’s story that are tragic when you take them at face value, yet Feig spins them to make them quirky. The moments that are meant to be taken seriously are often the most emotionally manipulative scenes that make you want to roll your eyes, especially when you get to the *snicker* twist.
Oh, didn’t you know? Last Christmas has a plot twist. It’s obvious and predictable as hell, but that twist… holy shit.
Most of this review… well, most of the reviews regarding this film are emphasized by that twist. Thank God there was a certain clown movie of last month that prepared me to be unsurprised by the plot twist here because if it wasn’t for that, I would’ve just thought the twist was incredibly stupid. Don’t get me wrong, the twist is fucking stupid, but at least the blow wasn’t as big as expected. It takes the same exact route as Joker, but made it—and I cannot believe I’m saying this—dumber, yet better developed. I’m just going to leave it at that and give this movie my rating.
Rating: 2.5/5 | 58%
