Shekhar Kapur’s first film since 2007’s “Elizabeth: The Golden Age,” itself a sequel to his Best Picture nominated “Elizabeth” from 1998, curiously sees the filmmaker shifting from prestige period drama to lighter romantic comedy fare with “What’s Love Got To Do With It?”. Written by Jemima Khan (producer of “Impeachment: American Crime Story”), the film stars Lily James (“Pam & Tommy”) as Zoe, a documentarian making a film about the “assisted” marriage of Kaz (Shazad Latif, “Star Trek: Discovery”), the proverbial boy next door. Wearing its influences on its sleeve, the rom-com aims to show where arranged marriage traditions and modern dating habits can fit in a multicultural modern Britain. Unfortunately, it can’t shake the screenwriter’s white gaze.
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Borrowing from “When Harry Met Sally,” the main action is peppered with direct-to-camera interviews conducted by Zoe with couples who have had their marriages arranged, sharing charming stories and bits of wisdom like love is better when you “start with a simmer.” The rest of the film plays out like a by-the-numbers romantic comedy. Zoe is a working woman, so of course, she is a mess, always running late to everything and only having time for casual sexual encounters. Her only friends appear to be her mom, played by Emma Thompson in one of those “look-at-the-funny-old-racist-lady-isn’t-she-charming?” type roles, and a woman named Helena (Alice Orr-Ewing, “The Last Letter From Your Lover”) who seems to only exist, so Zoe has someone’s kids to read “feminist” updates of fairytales to. The only other thing we learn about the woman is that her husband cheats on her in the most clichéd way with a coworker. This, of course, gives Zoe much to think about!
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Kaz is a doctor, born in Britain to Pakistani parents, who we learn have cut off his sister Jamila (Mariam Haque) because she married a white man who wasn’t a Muslim. Kaz’s desire to be the good son pushes him into pursuing an arranged marriage like his parents. Zoe, unable to sell a pitch about honor killings to a pair of producers who want feel-good content and can only think in buzz words, sells them on a doc about Kaz’s journey. Call it “My Big Fat Arranged Marriage,” one of them jokes. Spending time with Kaz while documenting his eventual engagement to a 22-year-old law student in Pakistan named Maymouna (Sajal Ali), Zoe begins to realize her long-held feelings for him.
This is all telegraphed in the very first scene, which would be fine if James and Latif had at least a modicum of chemistry, but there is not even a spark between these two. Zoe also finds herself set up with a cute veterinarian named James (Oliver Chris, “Emma.”) – a clear riff on Bill Pullman’s character in “Sleepless in Seattle” (who also deserved much better than he got from Meg Ryan’s character). At least here, the lack of chemistry might be blamed on Zoe trying out her own idea of an arranged marriage with Mr. Good Enough. Maybe the smartest thing this script does is give James the grace of telling Zoe off because he doesn’t want to be anyone’s “plan b.” Although this is undercut by a joke literally a minute later when he says he’ll probably be her “sensible second husband.”
As Zoe finally debuts her documentary, she says she always thought arranged marriages were outdated, but maybe she was too harsh, and the real path to happiness is somewhere between passion and pragmatism. However, all this thesis is undone by the film’s end, which does not find a happy medium between the older traditions and new ones. If anything, it implies that everyone who says they’re happy in an arranged marriage has just gotten used to living in lies.
On the surface, “What’s Love Got To Do With It?” seems like a harmless rom-com advocating for this same happy medium that Zoe speaks of, but while this theme slowly unravels, a phone call with Zoe’s producers reveals another layer altogether. They tell Zoe that they can’t move forward with the project because even though it checks the boxes of a diverse subject and a female director, Zoe is white, and they can’t back something like this seen through a “white prism.” This feels distinctly like Khan, who herself is a white woman (and once married to Imran Khan, later the Prime Minister of Pakistan), making a case for why she shouldn’t be criticized for telling a story like this just because of her whiteness. Yet, it’s hard not to feel her gaze all over this story, even if it’s done with the best of intentions.
At its core, the film wants to show that love and family are more complicated than any story can ever really show. When Kaz tells Zoe about the family cutting off his sister, he says it was because she chose love over her family. As the film barrels towards its happy ending, Zoe teaches Kaz that choosing love over your family is impossible because, ultimately, family is love. If only the filmmakers could have found a way to come to this conclusion without feeling so patronizing. [C]
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