What’s Love Got to Do with It?: Film Review
Not to be confused with the Tina Turner song or biopic, What’s Love Got to Do with It? is a heartwarming British romantic comedy starring Shazad Latif and Lily James.
Directed by Shekhar Kapur from a script by Jemima Khan, this romcom follows childhood friends and next-door neighbours Zoe (James) and Kaz (Latif). Zoe, a documentary filmmaker, is unlucky in love; constantly scrolling through the apps and hooking up with unsuitable guys, while Kaz has asked his parents to arrange, or “assist”, his marriage. Zoe decides to make a documentary about Kaz’s journey to marriage and follows him and his family as they go to Lahore, Pakistan to meet his future wife Maymouna (Sajal Aly).
I have seen arranged marriage depicted in films before but I found it really interesting and refreshing to see what it looks like in modern society, especially juxtaposed with Western dating culture in such an obvious way. It examines the pros and cons of each method and helps you understand why people still go down the arranged route. The wedding festivities are absolutely glorious to watch and the culture clash between Kaz’s Pakistani family and Zoe’s eccentric – and tone-deaf – mum Cath (Emma Thompson) is ripe for laughs.
Thompson is the scene-stealer as Cath is an oddball who is always saying the wrong thing or trying to set her daughter up with somebody she knows. She made me laugh a lot, as did Asim Chaudhry as Mo the Matchmaker, a loud man with the gift of the gab who runs a Muslim dating service. James and Latif give the film a deeper emotional layer than I was expecting and Aly’s character turns out to be somebody very different underneath her quiet, poised surface.
You will probably see the ending coming a mile off but the journey to get there has some surprises and does not play out exactly as I expected. It isn’t perfect but the story is so sweet, uplifting and full of heart that I glossed over its weaknesses and simply enjoyed it.
In cinemas from Friday 24th February