ABC Film Challenge – Catch-Up 2020 – X – Last Christmas (2019) Movie Review

This is under X because of Xmas, come on this is always the hardest letter of the alphabet.

Director: Paul Feig

Writer: Emma Thompson, Greg Wise, Bryong Kimmings (Screenplay)

Starring: Emilia Clarke, Emma Thompson, Henry Golding, Michelle Yeoh, Peter Mygind, Rob Delaney

Plot: Kate is a young woman subscribed to bad decisions. Working as an elf in a year round Christmas store is not good for the wannabe singer. However, she meets Tom there. Her life takes a new turn. For Kate, it seems too good to be true.

Tagline – It’s a wonderful life

Runtime: 1 Hour 43 Minutes

There may be spoilers in the rest of the review

Story: Last Christmas starts as we meet young woman Kate (Clarke) who is bouncing around her friend’s home, working in a Christmas shop for Santa (Yeoh) avoiding her mother Petra’s (Thompson) phone calls, avoiding all responsibilities in her life.

Kate ends up meeting the mysterious stranger Tom (Golding) who offers her a new way of seeing life, one where she will start to face the reality of how difficult her life is and needing to solve things before losing everyone close to her.

Thoughts on Last Christmas

Characters – Kate is the young woman who constantly finds herself between a rock and hard place, struggling to find a place to live that will keep her, causing problems whether she is, she works in a Christmas gift shop, while trying to fix her problems, which has seen her relationship with her parents strained, while overcoming her own illness. Tom is the mysterious man that walks into Kate’s life, trying to fill her with positive attitude and spirit to get her through the difficult time. Santa is the boss at the Christmas shop for Kate, she will always give her a chance more than many others, but even she will be pushed too far at times, but her new mysterious admirer will give her added joy. Petra is Kate’s mother that has always wanted her to be safe after what happened the previous year.

Performances – Emilia Clark is a delight to watch as always, bringing all the joy to the role she is playing. Henry Golding is entertaining to watch through the film too, being positive in every scene. Emma Thompson gives us a very strange performance though, with a character does seem out of place at times. Michelle Yeoh does bring us a fun support role through the film.

Story – The story here follows a young woman who is struggling to find her place in life, being reckless with her behaviour until she meets a new man that offers her a new lease of life, but has a big mystery about himself. This story does mix in some of George Michael’s songs around the Last Christmas theme, which is all enjoyable to watch, while having a big meaning to everything going on, going in a direction you wouldn’t have expect to see the story go in. certain parts might well seem out of place, but deep down the bigger message being told in the film is great to see.

Comedy/Romance – The comedy in the film is a mixed bag, with most of the Kate parts being funny to watch, but certain types of comedy from Petra feel out of place, with the romance being all about meeting someone new that could bring a new level of happiness in life.

Settings – The film is set in London, which will show us just how connected the world is for everyone involved.

Scene of the Movie – First Date.

That Moment That Annoyed Me – The random Eastern European parents.

Final Thoughts – Last Christmas is a feel good movie that will bring out the very best parts of Christmas.