At the time of writing, I have just found out about ‘Whamageddon’, a challenge where you are unable to listen to ‘Last Christmas’ by Wham until Christmas day. So, I thought the best film to watch on the day I find this out is ‘Last Christmas’ (2019). Oops. This film is one that I have been aware of since it came out, and not necessarily for the most positive of reasons. But that being said, I couldn’t actually remember what the negativity around the film was, so I basically am going into the film almost completely blind. No biases here, I promise… The film follows Cat (Emilia Clarke), an aspiring singer, who works as an elf in a Christmas themed shop and through mishaps and shenanigans she gets herself into is often finding herself homeless. A chance meeting with Tom (Henry Golding) leads to Cat’s whole life-changing, with her fixing old relationships, creating new ones, and reinvigorating her love of singing.
The only other Paul Feig film I had seen prior to this one was ‘A Simple Favour’ (2018) which I thought was pretty decent. It had its issues, especially when it came to the script which was very hit and miss, but overall, it was not a bad film. But either me and Paul Feig disagree on the issues with that film or he didn’t line from them because they are back in full force in this film. The script for this film is not great. Some of the dialogue throughout is pretty horrible and I found myself either eye-rolling or facepalming with some of the character interactions. There are a couple of funny moments in the film and I would be lying if I said that I didn’t laugh out loud on occasion, but these moments were few and far between. Fortunately, I don’t think this had too much of a negative effect on the performances in the film which were all solid, if not spectacular. Emilia Clarke is fun and manages to be charming while also getting across the negative aspects of Cat’s character very well. Henry Golding is also good in his role as the mysterious Tom. I had never even heard of him a few years ago and now he seems to be in everything, which isn’t a bad thing, he always does a good job. My favourite performance in the film comes from Michelle Yeoh who plays Santa, the owner of the Christmas shop. She seems to be having a ton of fun with the role and it is a little contagious. On a technical level, the film is solid. It isn’t poorly directed, shot, or edited, and for fans of London (which I am), it is often a lovely little jaunt through the capital.
So, up to now, you’re probably thinking that this film sounds alright, and you would be correct. It is mostly decent almost the whole way through. In fact, I reckon it is a film that a lot of people would really, really enjoy, despite it not being entirely my thing. And then the twist happens… Now, I have to be honest, I had a vague memory of hearing that the twist of this film was bad. But holy shit I was not expecting the twist to be as insanely horrible as it turned out to be. I will not spoil it here because it is so gloriously bad that I think it needs to be witnessed first-hand. Seriously, I don’t think I have laughed as hard at a film in a long time, even those that are trying to make me laugh. The big issue with it is that it is not just a hilariously bad twist in and of itself, but the way it is handled and executed is also laughable. You know I said that the film was decently directed earlier in this review? Ignore that for this short little spell which is horrendously done. It ends up looking like a knock off episode of a crap crime show, with quick cuts, black and white, and flashing that should come with an epilepsy warning. I actually can’t believe this twist actually exists. Maybe it doesn’t. Maybe I was having a fever dream. I almost hope that is the case for the sake of this film.
‘Last Christmas’ is a film that I think may very well hit the spot for several people in the lead up to Christmas. It has enough imagery and captures the spirit of the season well enough that I can see some people enjoying it. That is not a recommendation by the way. Any film with a twist like the twist in this film does not deserve any kind of recommendation unless you want a right old chuckle at the expense of people’s hard work. Go on treat yourself, it is almost Christmas after all.
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