Sometimes you (okay, I) just need a good rom-com.
For probably three quarters of the movie, Last Christmas fit the bill. And then, to my shock and dismay, it went terribly wrong and instead of me walking out feeling satisfied and humming the title song, I was annoyed and thinking, “WTF?”
Kate (Emilia Clarke) works in an all-Christmas-all-the-time shop in London, and is trying to get her life back on track after a serious illness. She makes one poor choice after another, gets on everyone’s nerves and is hopelessly self-absorbed. Basically, she’s a mess.
When she sees a stranger outside the store one day, she can’t help being attracted to his natural charm. This is understandable since Tom is played by Crazy Rich Asians‘ Henry Golding. As she gets to know him better, some of his most endearing qualities — his kindness, his desire to help others — rub off on her, transforming her into a more caring person and giving her much-needed self-confidence.
Emilia Clarke lights up the screen and is Zoe Deschanel-adorable as an elf, which happens to be her work uniform. She’s bubbly and self-deprecating, and it is impossible not to root for her.
There are plenty of other good things about the movie, too, like the George Michael soundtrack and the presence of Emma Thompson as Kate’s overbearing immigrant mother. There’s the winter wonderland of London at Christmastime, with its twinkly lights and holiday cheer. There’s Henry Golding, who is just a dream of a boyfriend.
But then there’s the twist. I’m not going to spoil it for you, although it certainly spoiled the movie for me. Maybe I should have seen it coming, maybe I’m losing my touch. But the audience, who seemed to be enjoying the movie up until that point, went silent and all the jolly holiday magic left the theater.
At that point, I was ready to do the same.
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