Last Christmas

The hits of the sadly departed George Michael provide the musical backdrop to a sentimental seasonal offering from Bridesmaids director Paul Feig, which manages to be both dispiritingly conventional and occasionally very odd. Emilia Clarke plays Kate, the chaotic 26-year-old daughter of immigrants from the former Yugoslavia (with Emma Thompson the melodramatic matriarch). While working in a Christmas shop, Kate's fortunes change when she meets the too-good-to-be-true Tom (Crazy Rich Asians star Henry Golding), a cycle courier, soup kitchen volunteer and overeager tour guide. It's ostensibly a romantic comedy, but it stutters on both fronts, with Golding more strange than seductive and Clarke lacking the necessary comic chops. The script tackles the Brexit-effect and homelessness, but not even a bizarre twist can stop it from being bogged down by the usual clichés. In the end, it's more festive folly than Christmas cracker.