Move over Love Actually, there’s a new festive film in town – Last Christmas
CERT 12A, 103 MINUTES, IN CINEMAS 15 NOVEMBER
Starring: Emilia Clarke, Henry Golding, Michelle Yeoh, Emma Thompson, Lydia Leonard Director: Paul Feig
THE PLOT Aspiring musical theatre actress Kate (Clarke) is a less-than-exemplary employee at year-round Christmas-themed gift shop Yuletide in London’s Covent Garden, but is indulged by its long-suffering owner (Yeoh). One day, the elf-attired shop assistant’s eyes lock with the mysterious Tom (Golding), and so begins a tentative friendship/romance in which he shares all the secret places of London he loves, also introducing Kate to the homeless shelter where he volunteers. WHAT’S RIGHT WITH IT? Powered by songs from George Michael and Wham!, this has all the sweet, tingly, Christmassy magic we might be craving right about now – also benefiting from a witty screenplay co-written by Emma
Thompson. Game Of Thrones star Clarke delightfully anchors the film as Kate, the self-sabotaging sofa surfer with complicated family issues, and Golding is suitably swoonsome. WHAT’S WRONG WITH IT? Thompson amuses as Kate’s (heavily accented) Croatian mother, but in 2019, it’s unusual to see this kind of casting – British star as funny foreigner alert. VERDICT Powered by a late reveal that pushes the film into a whole other genre, this latest from Bridesmaids director Paul Feig won’t satisfy as many as Richard Curtis’ Love
Actually, but at the very least should have you running to curate a George Michael Spotify playlist. HHHH