Further Thoughts on Last Christmas

As I said in my review of Last Christmas, it’s an odd film in which the basic plot premise and execution thereof don’t work all that well for me, and yet I still really enjoy the themes that the film plays with (as well as the acting, but this post isn’t really about that.) It’s those themes I’d like to look at today – namely, the film’s diversity and its overarching message of inclusion (a few minor spoilers.)

We’ll start with the casting. Any Hollywood romcom in which any of the leads are people of color is, sadly, still notable, and Asian male romantic leads are particularly few and far between. It’s great to see Henry Golding prove that Crazy Rich Asians wasn’t a one-off for him, even better to see him as the romantic male lead in a role that didn’t “need” to be Asian-British. Similarly, I appreciate that there’s no link, familial or otherwise, between Tom and Michelle Yeoh’s character Santa. They’re both just two Asian diaspora individuals in London with a connection to Kate, none directly to one another – from a “we’re not all related” standpoint, that’s nice to see.

There’s plenty more diversity within the supporting and minor characters. Along with other people of color among Kate’s friends and associates, we also see LGBTQ inclusion (including a trans actress playing a character who’s never specified to be trans) and multiple characters with disabilities (note: I can’t swear that the actors playing them are disabled as well, but given that the disabilities aren’t really commented on in any way, I’m guessing they are.) Furthermore, while Emilia Clarke’s Kate is obviously white, she and her family came to London from former Yugoslavia when she was a child, and there are other European immigrant characters in the film as well. Finally, I appreciate that the assorted of minor roles for homeless characters are depicted as people with lives and stories – even if we don’t really go into what those stories are, they’re not treated as props. For example, I enjoy some of the surprises in the montage where Kate is auditioning homeless talent for the soup kitchen’s Christmas pageant fundraiser.

In general, it falls into a category of diverse films for me that, even though they still center a white protagonist, take care to show those protagonists living in a diverse world. The MCU Spider-Man movies also fit into this type, as well as A Simple Favor (which, incidentally, also features Golding.) While Last Christmas does have Golding as the male lead, it’s ultimately Kate’s story, as everything Tom does is just a function of Kate’s journey, but the vibrantly-diverse London all around her is a step in the right direction.

Where Last Christmas gets a little more interesting for me is the way that this message goes from being subtly implied through casting to more overt, especially where the immigrant characters are concerned. That’s because present-day London is, unfortunately, a post-Brexit London, where some citizens try to make it an unwelcoming place for immigrants and refugees. There are explicit scenes that show this – news footage of a xenophobic march in the streets, someone hassling a couple on a bus who aren’t speaking English – and we see the fear created by these attitudes. Part of Kate’s journey is about owning her identity as an immigrant, and as she stops pushing down that aspect of her history, she connects more to those around her, affirming to other immigrants that this is their London too.

Because it is. One of the film’s strengths is the way it shows the magic of London at Christmas, and in this too, it revels in the city’s diversity. From Santa’s year-round Christmas shop with crammed shelves full of mind-bogglingly odd decorations, to the Yugoslav holiday traditions of Kate’s family, to a lovely wordless interlude of Kate and her mother spending time together in an outdoor market, we see London in all its holiday beauty with its multicultural residents at the heart of it.

Last Christmas (2019, PG-13)

This was the type of movie trailer that pulled me in on the strength of the cast, even as the film itself looked aggressively average. My interest was further piqued when I learned that Emma Thompson wasn’t just featured in the movie but also co-wrote the screenplay. Still, those things weren’t enough to get me into the theater. I finally checked it out on Amazon Prime, because what else are we all doing right now, and I’m still trying to decide what I think of it. (Note: this review hints toward a spoiler without technically revealing what that spoiler is.)

Kate has been drifting. Ever since her recovery from a serious illness that resulted in a heart transplant, she’s been struggling to get anything out of life. Ostensibly an inspiring actress, she works at a year-round Christmas shop while auditioning for gigs she doesn’t book, and she couch-surfs with one friend after another until each kicks her out, even though her parents would happily welcome her back home until she’s on her feet again. Nothing matters to her until she meets an odd young man named Tom, who encourages her to embrace life while she has the chance.

In addition to what I said in my intro, this was also the type of movie trailer that had people guessing at the ending from day 1, and the film doesn’t surprise on that point. On the whole, the movie doesn’t offer much in the way of surprises, telegraphing most of its major moments. It can be cheesy in its predictability as well as predictable in its cheesiness, and throughout, there’s just this slight undercurrent of, “It’s a Christmas movie! We can coast, right?”

But for all of its very genuine flaws, I didn’t find myself going as far as disliking the movie. It’s a little weird, because this is a film where the bare bones of it (the plot and how it’s executed) don’t really work for me, but most of the details surrounding it do. I like the film’s heart and themes, the easy diversity of the cast, and the magic with which it captures London at Christmas. The George Michael songs in the soundtrack (beyond just the one signposted in the title of the movie) are as obvious as everything else going on here, but they do the job they set out to do.

Finally, there’s the cast, all of whom do their utmost to sell the lackluster material. Emilia Clarke, the Mother of Dragons herself, is effective in the role of Kate, the directionless young woman who received a new heart but fears she might have lost her own in the process. She makes Kate’s self-destructive and selfish behaviors feel internally consistent, and the transformation she undergoes throughout the film doesn’t feel overly saccharine in her hands. Meanwhile, Henry Golding is utterly winning as Tom. As hokey as the role is (this dude is a Manic Pixie Dream Boy if there ever was one,) Golding strikes just the right notes with it and keeps you from rolling your eyes at the proceedings – at one point while watching him onscreen, I actually said aloud, “How is he so charming?” It’s a mystery, people. Emma Thompson brings both fun and heart as Kate’s mother, and the always-great Michelle Yeoh is a delight as Kate’s boss.

Warnings

Drinking, language, mild sexual content, and thematic elements.