Written by Emma Thompson And Greg Wise And Bryony Kimmings
Directed by Paul Feig
Kate: "Why can I feel you?"
Tom: "Because I'm a part of you. Take care of my heart."
Kate: "Yeah, I promise."
Tom: "It was always going to be yours, one way or another."
It's the month for festive romances and this one from two years ago was on my list of ones to catch up with. Namely because of the lead actors and also because of the polarising reputation. Is this really that bad a Christmas movie? Not really. At least not for me.
Emilia Clarke when she's not using dragons to demolish King's Landing takes on the lead of Katarina 'Kate' Andrich, a somewhat selfish young woman, who when she isn't auditioning for her big break and alienating friends and family alike, also works at a Christmas shop for Santa (Michelle Yeoh) aka, Huang Qing Shin. Santa turns out to be a fair employer while Kate might not be the greatest of workers. However there's a lovely rapport between the pair and this film for it's credit has a few of those.
The main pairing of course being the one between Kate and charming volunteer Tom Webster (Henry Goulding). The latter doesn't take long to initially wind up Kate, before charming her and throughout the movie, it's easy to see how Kate becomes so smitten with Tom. Henry Goulding really does work wonderfully as a romantic lead and his chemistry with Emilia Clarke shines throughout the movie.
Of course where the movie earned it's polarising reputation was in it's reveal of Tom's actual backstory and the way it tied into Kate's own previous health problems. Looking at it objectively, I think the signs had been there from the start with Tom and while I don't actually hate the reveal itself, it's still a bit sad though. However, its also a mice subversion for this particular genre.
Throughout the movie, Tom's influence on Kate turns out to be a positive. Kate's not a bad person. She's a refreshingly openly flawed protagonist and she does have some great moments too. We get to see her set up Santa on a date and while she did out her sister, Marta (Lydia Leonard) to their parents Petra (Emma Thompson) and Ivan (Boris Isakovic), thongs did later resolve themselves as the movie progressed.
Kate's family are entertaining but Tom's biggest influence was getting her to help out at a volunteer shelter and organise the big Christmas event with the obligatory musical number. Not to mention the ultimate goal of getting Kate to open herself to the world. That's pretty good going for a guy who technically wasn't there to begin with.
- Emma Thompson who played Petra co-wrote this movie with her husband. She also got the director on board, even though he wasn't keen on directing another Christmas movie.
- The parallels between Tom Webster and George Michael are very apparent throughout the movie.
- Standout music:Well, this was a bit of Wham! fest with Emilia Clarke getting to sing a certain song to boot.
- Chronology: It opened with a scene in 1999 Yugoslavia with the main action being set in 2017 London.
Last Christmas for me was something of a surprisingly enjoyable film. The script isn't perfect but it's enjoyable for the most part. There's also no denying that Emilia Clarke and Henry Goulding are a fine pairing and work wonderfully here. I actually don't get the hate for this one.
Rating: 7 out of 10
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