Festive Forays - Last Christmas (12A)

Missing, kissing - it's almost like we're having a relationship.

It's something of a cinematic Holy Grail - to make a Christmas movie that turns out a modern classic, one that'll join It's a Wonderful Life and The Muppet Christmas Carol and Love Actually in that pantheon of festive TV perennials. Last year alone saw The Nutcracker and the Four Realms (striped eye-candy but really muddled both plot- and tone-wise) and a Grinch update (fine animation, but ultimately not offering enough that was distinctive to earn a place on the Top List). Now 2019 brings us Last Christmas, a Yuletide comedy spiced with romance, poignancy and the songs of George Michael. As of now the reviews seem way too polarised for the film to show December-time staying-power. But Love Actually garnered a similarly mixed response - and personally I like this movie better. Quite a lot better. So let's just wait and see...

Emilia Clarke has relinquished her Game of Thrones dragon to play Kate, a cynical soul, whose mood isn't helped by her job dressed as a Santa's elf in a year-round Christmas store. Kate's life is a string of thoughtless acts and Fleabag-style bad choices, as she alienates one friend after another and holds her immigrant Slovakian family at arm's length. Then as actual Christmas approaches, she meets Tom - a life-embracing oddball, who refuses play their developing friendship by Kate's misanthropic rules. Whoever this guy is, he may be the only person who can help her face up to her very specific demons and stop her downward spiral into disaster.

There's a reason I include a 'Gut Reaction' at the end of my reviews - it's my first and most important guide to rating a film. Whatever some naysayers have been saying about Last Christmas, it won me early and despite occasional bumps held me throughout. Clarke is the main (but by no means only) reason. Post-Thrones she provides a luminous comic presence, one that shines through her frazzled, sarky demeanour. She's likeable, even though she's awful. Kate is a driving force through the story's early stages, but she's backed up by the sublime Michelle Yeoh (Crazy Rich Asians) as 'Santa', the Christmas store's eccentric proprietor, and co-writer Emma Thompson, who's having a great old time as the heroine's overbearing fuss-budget mother. Then Henry Golding (another Crazy Rich alumnus) shows up as the mercurial Tom, playing sincerity as deeply charming, while the story hits its romantic stride. 

Any danger of the film falling too deep into seasonal shmaltz is undercut by the sheer vinegar of the humour, not least when Kate clashes with other members of her dysfunctional family. Yes, a travelogue of London locations are shown at their twinkly end-of-year best, but there's a moody darkness here too, one at odds with the delightful Christmas kitsch of 'Santa''s Covent Garden store. We feel intimations of mortality, along with familial angst and political tensions - not unlike It's a Wonderful Life - ensuring that the inevitably life-affirming arc of the story never becomes too saccharine.

Then there's the film's final act, one that's proving divisive. If you know your Christmas movies - I mean historically - then it won't come as a complete surprise, or upend your expectations too much. I (kind of) saw it coming, but that didn't detract at all from the experience, in fact it enhanced the story, turning this from a run-of-the-mill Yuletide heart-warmer into something more weighty. If you think it leans too much into melodrama, I get that, but personally I thought it took a risk that paid off beautifully. 

Not everything in the film works. As with Paul Feig's last film A Simple Favor there are comedy moments that don't quite gel or that jar tonally, although those moments are rare enough not to matter. As for the George Michael element - while his writing served as inspiration, don't expect the songs to play an integral role. They're woven in, adding a subtle commentary to the story of long-time George fan Kate, with Heal the Pain working a particular kind of emotional magic.

I saw Last Christmas after the first wave of mixed critical responses - wanting to like it, but bracing myself for disappointment. The disappointment didn't happen and the liking did. While some people's response is your actual nausea, I genuinely enjoyed it, in fact I think it's a Greatest Showman-style crowd-pleaser and to hell with the sniffier critiques. It'll stick around longer than many predicted and some audience members will want to watch it every time the holidays come around. And if I'm right in that, it may just find its place in the Christmas movie pantheon.

Gut Reaction: I made me laugh. It made me tear up a bit. It charmed my socks off and replaced them with woollen ones bearing a reindeer motif.

Memorable Moment: Not a successful family dinner.

Ed's Verdict: 7.5/10. Good-hearted and life-affirming, Last Christmas tempers its Hallmark sentiment with bittersweet humour and a great central turn from Clarke. Deck the flipping Halls, people!