Director Shekhar Kapur, known for directing “Elizabeth” and “Elizabeth: The Golden Age,” switches gears for the romantic comedy “What’s Love Got To Do With It?” The film opens with what feels like 30 minutes of a flurry of laughs, but the jokes never feel forced and they come naturally through its cast and a smartly written script.
The story follows filmmaker Zoe (Lily James), who has grown up with her next door neighbour and best friend, Kazim (Shazad Latif). Zoe is raised by a somewhat carefree mother (a delightful Emma Thompson), while Kaz is raised in a traditional Pakistani family. They live next door to each other in England, but their cultures are on opposite sides of the world.
When Kaz announces he’s interested in exploring arranged marriage in today’s modern dating – dubbing it “assisted marriage” – Zoe asks if she can make a documentary about his journey. Jemima Khan’s script is filled with great observations about modern dating, and valid questions that are posed for Zoe’s documentary.
An image from What’s Love Got To Do With It? (Courtesy of TIFF.)
Many of the laughs in the first act come from the very talented cast, namely Lily James and Emma Thompson. A surprising, scene-stealing assisted marriage counselor played by Asim Chaudhry shines, too. He helps the film be a laugh-a-minute. The only drawback of the character is that they couldn’t figure out a way to have him stick around throughout the entire film.
A sense of community
These laughs do keep coming in general throughout the film, but as “What’s Love Got To Do With It” finds its stride and its comfort zone, it’s content to let the laughs come occasionally, sprinkling them between emotional moments and charming romantic beats. The friendship and “when will they” between Zoe and Kazim is played so well. Their chemistry is simply electric. As well, their conflict is believable, as Zoe tries to understand certain aspects of the upcoming marriage, for herself and her documentary. In the film’s fallouts, we learn about Zoe’s tendency to push people away once they get close. Another conflict comes into the plot through Kazim’s sister.
An important aspect of the film is its portrayal of culture and a sense of community. In one of the lovelier scenes between Emma Thompson and Lily James, Thompson mentions the old adage of it taking a village to raise a baby. Emphasizing the film’s aspect of community, Thompson says, “They should say it takes a village to sustain an adult.” When Zoe is feeling at her most isolated, or trying to isolate, this is a line that hits hard. Even though this is a story about arranged marriage, it’s a universal one about love and acceptance. That’s what makes it feel like it will be such a winner once it hits theatres.
