Shazad Latif and Lily James in What’s Love Got to Do with It? [Robert Viglasky-Robert Viglasky]

WHAT’S LOVE GOT TO DO WITH IT?
Directed by Shekhar Kapur
Certificate: 12a
☆☆☆

ZOE the talented documentary maker, whose perfect life is utterly imperfect because she isn’t in love, or is but doesn’t know it, is a character so silly that instead of feeling exasperated at her idiocies, one is slightly intrigued to discover what crash she will cause next.

This lead (Lily James, of course) appears not to recognise happiness even if it smacked her idyllic, Thames-houseboat-living, Richard-Curtis-middle-class-fantasy face squarely in the chops.

Zoe bites off tough topics at work. But her trendy commissioners decide they want something a little more Channel Five, so she pitches the story of how her next door neighbour and best friend Kaz (Shazad Latif) has begun the process of fixing an arranged marriage. She decides this would make a great topic, and so follows her bestie as his family choose him a bride in Pakistan.

This gives the couple plenty of scope to discuss what love is all about, what happiness means, what being in a partnership should entail, and whether the practicalities of companionship should outweigh the search for the frog that turns into a prince.
Director Kapur has a twee-ly nice-looking backdrop for the story.

From a postcard-perfect London to a tourist board-style promo flick for a trip to Lahore, there’s plenty to look at. Emma Thompson plays the lush of a mother, who loves her next door neighbours and when she’s being a stupid racist, she does it in an apparently affectionate way. Her comedy turns are clownishly OTT.

This feels like a throwback to the 1990s era of the big London rom-com releases. Screen writer Jemima Khan, who was married to the Pakistan cricketer-turned-politician Imran Khan, has a personal experience to bring to bear, marrying a Muslim man, moving to Pakistan, and noting the cultural similarities and differences she saw and felt.

This is undermined by a plot arc lacking surprises – and at times being bad enough to be quite fun. What’s Love Got To Do With It? lasts a few scenes too many for a story whose ending is obvious from the opening 30 seconds.