When there are such a lot of largely forgettable Christmas motion pictures dropping this time of the yr – nearly all of them romances – how does one stand above the parapet?
Casting Will Ferrell and Ryan Reynolds is one strategy to do it, as within the case of Spirited, or being Lindsay Lohan’s comeback automobile (Falling for Christmas – it’s horrible).
But what should you can’t compete on that degree of starry, glitziness – and also you’re British?
You solid two very likeable younger actors who will undoubtedly allure and thaw the iciest of hearts – not via saccharine warmth however with their awkwardness and verve.
Asa Butterfield (Sex Education) and relative newcomer Cora Kirk crackle as two younger college college students on Christmas break. They’re enjoyable and vivacious, the type of performances that makes you wish to spend money on their characters’ tales – even when the plot itself is prosaic.
James (Butterfield) and Hayley (Kirk) are enthralled within the flush of a brand new relationship. The two drama faculty college students have been relationship only some months however wish to spend each second collectively.
Which makes going their separate methods dwelling for Christmas a bit robust – till they each have the identical thought of a grand romantic gesture. James and Hayley determine to skip their trains and shock one another at their paramour’s dwelling.
So, Hayley is off to James’ home in Gloucester whereas James is on his strategy to Hayley’s in Macclesfield. Of course, neither of them is aware of the opposite’s plans, and it’s not precisely the Christmas shock they had been hoping for.
Inadvertently swapping households for Christmas, James and Hayley uncover way more about one another than they knew – James is inheritor to an earldom and Hayley has a fiance (or does she?).
And their households couldn’t be extra totally different with one a heat, bustling hub of exercise and hijinks whereas the opposite is a chilly, imperious atmosphere with out even a single bauble.
Your Christmas or Mine is in some ways a typical comedy of errors with a festive bent, however the casting all through the entire ensemble is lifeless on and even when the supporting characters are acquainted tropes, they’re interesting ones.
On the one aspect, you may have Alex Jennings (The Crown) as James’ pompous aristocratic father, tended to by Harriet Walter’s housekeeper and feuding with David Bradley’s gun-toting neighbour.
And then at Hayley’s home, it’s chaos with Daniel Mays, Angela Griffin, Ram John Holder and Natalie Gumede speaking over one another, however with love.
Your Christmas or Mine might not be a lot when it comes to doing something significantly new or recent in a well-worn style, nevertheless it creates vivid worlds.
More importantly, Butterfield and Kirk deliver to life two characters you wish to root for, and so they set up sufficient chemistry within the transient opening scene that you simply care to see the younger lovers make it via the vacations.
Director Jim O’Hanlon is an skilled helmer in TV and it’s clear his work on the likes of British relationship comedies Trying and Catastrophe carried via to Your Christmas or Mine, the place he pitches the tone and vibe good for a jovial festive time.
Rating: 3/5
Your Christmas or Mine is streaming now on Amazon Prime Video
