An attempt to pay tribute to the
music of George Michael and the fandom of Love Actually fails on both counts and at many more things along the way
Somewhere in the last decade, audiences, and in turn financiers, fell out of love with the London-set romantic
comedy, a subgenre that had almost single-handedly been keeping the
British film industry alive, or at least somewhat in profit. They were repetitive, predictable and filled with characters who were exclusively, uncomfortably, posh and white yet they were also undeniably effective crowd-pleasers and like many, I’ve missed them, as parodical as they can often be. So has Emma Thompson, it seems. Because with all the confidence of a well-spoken Oxbridge alumnus delivering a climactic declaration of love in a public place, she’s chucked together Last
Christmas, a thirsty little festive film eager to remind us all why we actually loved Love Actually in the first place.
Related: Paul Feig: 'Male humour always devolves into homophobia and name-calling'