‘What’s Love Got To Do With It?’: Toronto Review

Dir: Shekhar Kapur. UK. 2022. 109mins.

When a documentary maker (Lily James) decides to make a film about a neighbour (Shazad Latif) who is about to enter into an arranged marriage, the result is a frothy comedy which, while hardly being the first to mine Anglo-Asian culture clashes on the romantic landscape, sails closer to the wind than many. Biting observations about unconscious bias, racism and cynical box-ticking in content commissioning abound, and although it is perhaps not the most culturally sensitive examination of arranged marriage, it is an amusing charmer of a picture which trades heavily on the chemistry between its two stars, with support from Emma Thompson.

An amusing charmer of a picture which trades heavily on the chemistry between stars Lily James and Shazad Latif

In the director’s chair is Shekhar Kapur, returning to cinema after a lengthy absence – his last full feature was Elizabeth: The Golden Age in 2007, followed by a segment, the year after, in the portmanteau picture New York, I Love You. In the intervening period, he has directed a documentary and several episodes of the television drama series, Will. Kapur’s return to cinema, with a project which was scripted by Jemima Khan, is unlikely to match the critical success of Elizabeth, but it could connect with an audience starved of sharply-written romantic fare.

A peppy turn from Lily James as Zoe, a documentary maker on the hunt for a killer project, is one of the picture’s main assets. She’s a cynic about romance, her dreams downgraded by the fact that all the princes she has kissed so far have turned out to be amphibians. In a cute recurring device, Zoe customises the bedtime stories she tells her best friend’s two daughters to reflect her own romantic misadventures. “Snow White was sad. She ate the poisoned apple on purpose.”

Having failed repeatedly to date anyone remotely pleasant, she is intrigued by the news that her next door neighbour is opting for a more traditional approach, and is abot to enter into an arranged (or assisted, in contemporary parlance) marriage with a bride from Lahore, Pakistan. Kaz (Latif), an oncology doctor and secret smoker,  is resistant to the idea of having his marriage turned into a documentary – an idea jumped on by TV commissioners hoping for a “My Big Fat Aranged Marriage” hit – but is persuaded when Zoe argues that at least they will get to hang out together.

In the background, spouting a near continuous stream of accidental racism, is Zoe’s mum Cath. In the role, Emma Thompson wrings every last drop of mortifying comedy from excruciating lines like “So wonderfully exotic!” as she swirls around in her salwar kameez at Kaz’s older brother’s wedding party. At the same time, the film is not above chucking in the odd dance routine and milking the wedding pageantry, which is all very jolly but feels like a slightly performative and decorative depiction of Pakistani cultural customs.

As Zoe observes Kaz’s journey, she begins to question her own assumptions and confront some uncomfortable truths about her dismal dating history; although it should be said that there’s little correspondence between Zoe’s wildly haphazard camerawork and the footage that we finally view. The film’s authenticity comes not so much from the parties and celebration, and certainly not from the documentary device, but from the emotional connection between Kaz and Zoe; the way he leans slightly towards her as he translates the words of a traditional love song, the brief loaded pause when their eyes lock.