My wife and I had been eyeing to see this rom-com Christmas movie with the title that was based on one of the most popular Christmas song and a personal favorite of my wife and mine. It was a bit late for Indonesian audience as it was released only on Friday (around a month after its US and UK release). And sadly it did not play at the reasonable time in the theater near our home, so we only got to see it today. Well let's get on with it now.
Brief Story Line
Story focused on a young woman named Katarina who referred to herself as Kate (Emilia Clarke - Solo: A Star Wars Story, Terminator Genisys etc), a rather self-pitying person who was working at a Christmas ornaments shop owned by a lady named Santa (Michelle Yeoh - Master Z: Ip Man Legacy, Star Trek Discovery TV series etc). When one day Kate met with a mysterious man named called Tom (Henry Golding - A Simple Favor etc), she felt attracted despite not knowing anything about him.
Meanwhile Kate had a really strained relationship with her family who emigrated from former Yugoslavia, particularly with her mother Petra (Emma Thompson - Man In Black: International, Beauty and the Beast live version etc) and her older sister Marta (Lydia Leonard). As Kate tried to be a performing artist, she found herself to be struggling with her life choices including her attraction to Tom.
So what would happen to Kate? Find them all in this rom-com movie.
End of Brief Story Line
You know when I saw the main leads of this movie, I thought for sure it would be a wonderful & nice rom-com. With Emilia Clarke who had been very popular for playing in Game of Thrones TV series plus Henry Golding who made a name for himself after that major hit Crazy Rich Asians, I had high hopes for a heart warming lovely rom-com for Christmas. However, after seeing the first half of the movie, I found myself to be a bit confused with where the movie was going.
The story development seemed a bit slow and looked to be aimless. Yes the characterization of Kate was done really well by Emilia Clarke as the person who seemed to be a bit self destructive until she found the mysterious Tom (I personally thought Henry Golding sometimes felt out of place when showing of his goofy side). My wife and I thought that these two did not really have a good chemistry, like they were forced to be playing as supposedly two persons attracted to one another. Only half way through the movie did we finally felt it was going somewhere and things became more interesting when Kate's family got more screen time.
The premise itself was supposed to be nice but the surprising twist was a bit predictable (my wife already suspected from quite early, while I was slower). Although to be fair it was done well enough that even though it was not mind blowing, it still manage to give me some surprised and emotional feeling. There was one moment that hit my wife quite hard and I am sure that hopeless romantics would find it hard to keep their eyes dry during that scene.
Throughout the whole movie, the one thing that really help me focused was the many songs from George Michael and his former group Wham!, like One More Try, Faith, Wake Me Up Before You Go Go and many more, with obviously our favorite one Last Christmas. Apart from those songs, there were also many classic Christmas songs, with some sung by Emilia Clarke herself. And during the moments towards the end, the movie gave a warm feeling, much better than what we felt during the first half. Oh there was also another thing that got me through the early parts, i.e the lovely London scenery with all the snow, Christmas decoration and snowing scenes, making me and my wife really eager to go and experience ourselves such moment. Btw, there was no mid or post end credit scenes, except if you want to know the soundtrack list.
Now I really cannot say that this is a good quality rom-com, especially when the chemistry was not really that convincing, but the ending was nice enough as a Christmas movie. Please do not compare this with classics like Sleepless in Seattle, When Harry Met Sally (or most drama romantic that got Meg Ryan in it) as this would be pale in comparison. But if you are looking to see a rom-com movie that would end up being more like a drama, with tons of Christmas and George Michael's songs, then you should be able to enjoy this one. It might also give you some heart breaking and heart warming feel at the same time after watching it. The choice is yours.
Mike's movie moments rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars
No comments:
Post a Comment