A One Mann’s Movies review of “What’s Love Got To Do With It?” (2023).
Man, oh, man. It’s been a heavy few weeks of watching award candidate films. Many are very very long. Many, particularly this year, have covered topics of depression and mental health. So. it’s a nice detox to watch a romcom like “What’s Love Got To Do With It?”.
Bob the Movie Man Rating:
Plot Summary:
Zoe (Lily James) has been best friends with Kazim (Shazad Latif) since they were kids. As next door neighbours, they shared their first kiss together in the tree house in Kazim’s garden. But now all grown up, Zoe is a well-regarded documentary film-maker and desperate for inspiration for a new project. She finds that Kazim is preparing for an arranged marriage as per the family tradition and gets permission to film the process.
Certification:
UK: 12; US: R. (From the BBFC: “Infrequent strong language, moderate sex references, drug references”)
Talent:
Starring: Lily James, Shazad Latif, Emma Thompson, Asim Chaudhry.
Directed by: Shekhar Kapur.
Written by: Jemima Khan.
Twitter Handle: #WhatsLoveMovie.
The vibrant colours of a Muslim wedding vividly brought to life in Lahore. (Source: StudioCanal)
“What’s Love Got To Do With It?” Review:
Positives:
- As Douglas Adams would say, this one is “Mostly Harmless”. As a rom-com it delivers the requisite feelgood with the appropriate bumps along the way. And it’s so gloriously predictable! Because you would have to be pretty brain dead not to know how the film is going to end from the first 5 minutes! But – hey – this isn’t trying to be “Bloody Shakespeare”.
- The film would have definitely passed the “Six Laughs test” for a comedy, if most of the best jokes hadn’t already been in the trailer. WHY DO THEY DO THAT????? It’s well written by Jemima Khan – yes, THAT Jemima Khan. And what’s really nice about the screenplay is that it makes the film so wonderfully multi-cultural film, so that it will hopefully appeal to a broad cross-section of society. I always feel that cinema in the UK is divided into “Western Films” and “Bollywood Films”, and only people from those ethnic backgrounds feel comfortable going to see each type. This is nonsense! If only #Cineworld would put on ‘Bollywood’ films during the daytime (they only seem to go for evening showings) I’d love to broaden my cinema experience
- Lily James is, as usual, both gorgeous and personable in the role of Zoe and she has really good chemistry with Shazad Latif who makes a very positive impression here as a leading man. Dame Emma Thompson – what a national treasure she it – plays Zoe’s mum and has most of the best laughs.
- I loved all of the exotic colour that the on-location shooting in Lahore added.
Negatives:
- Deep it is not! If you hate your rom-coms, you are going to hate this!
- We see some of the action through Zoe’s camera lens, and she is without doubt one of the worst camera operators in movie history!
- Entrenched family opinions in the story seem to waft away with rather too much ease, making the finale equally unlikely.
Summary Thoughts on “What’s Love Got To Do With It?”:
Will it win any Oscars? No. But as a fun night out for a couple at the cinema, it fits the bill.
I saw this as a Cineworld Unlimited preview, but the film is out in UK cinemas this Friday, Feb 24th.
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Trailer for “What’s Love Got To Do With It?”:
The trailer is here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0LqOp2MNwao .
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