Film Review: Last Christmas Is A Classic, Holiday Rom-Com
Make No Mistake! Last Christmas is FILLED with every cheesy, rom-com trope you could find in the history of “girl meets boy” storylines. Yet, it is for this reason I LOVED it. Emilia Clarke shines in a film that feels like Love, Actually and Fault In Our Stars had a baby and that baby grew up to write a film on “adulting” while dating.
Emilia Clarke plays Kate… or shall I say Katerina. A Yugoslavian refugee whose health scare leaves her traumatized. This note, actually, felt really powerful for me because I totally understood the bitterness of Kate. Something happens to you when you get really sick, and then you get well again. It is as if you heart and mind cannot reconcile your time lost. One minute you were dying, then you were recuperating, and, after a few years, you are back to “normal.” Clarke’s performance is for the good people struggling not to stay embittered by their traumas and hoping to return to their once-felt potential, which is why Henry Golding’s sweet, optimistic Tom becomes the epicenter of every woman that truly believes you can live a Jane Austen fantasy.
Last Christmas – Official Trailer
Henry Golding, sincerely, needs to stop. He has the “the Noah Centineo” effect on Millennial women that are over “bad boys” and want good men. He is the titular “good guy,” and ladies will be here for it. You are right there with Clarke’s Kate waiting for Golding’s Tom to show up so you can bike ride to wherever he wants to go, even if it means your second date is to a homeless shelter. Frankly, you would go if Tom took you! Yet, more importantly, you want to fall in love with someone that not only makes you feel good but pushes you to be better.
The chemistry between Emilia Last Christmas Movie Clip – Least Favorite Item (2019) | Movieclips Coming Soon Clarke and Henry Golding anchors the film’s most important lesson for women trying to choose better guys: make sure they make you a better person. Kate grows happier and kinder; even becoming creative and generous with the people she loves and the people in need. On that lesson alone, I was HERE FOR IT! If Bridget Jones Diary was the top rom-com teaching women to love and defend themselves, Last Christmas feels like a top rom-com teaching women to choose good guys and, better yet, choose to be good, period. Moreover, a George Michael soundtrack never hurt anybody.
Wham! – Last Christmas (Official Video)
Last Christmas has revived my appreciation for George Michael’s melodramatic gleefulness. God, that man could make you feel like love either kicked you in the face or offered you an eternal romance. Every time his songs began to play, the scenes elevated. In addition, the cast felt like perfect fits as people loving and supporting Kate until she did that for herself, especially Emma Thompson as Petra. Accredited as one of the writers of this film, Thompson is not only hilarious and loving as Kate’s mom, but she plugs in important themes about immigration, Brexit, and, ultimately, the need to be charitable when others are down on their luck or opportunity: not in their capacity to be good. Directed by Paul Feig, once again, this director serves viewers a rom-com that is easy to repeat. Last Christmas comes out on November 8.
