Zoe Stevenson
Lily James
Zoe Stevenson
Overview
Two childhood friends now in their thirties must decide whether to follow their heads or their hearts once the man decides to follow his parents' advice and enter into an arranged marriage in Pakistan.
Trailer
Official International Trailer Official
Cast
Kazim Khan
Shazad Latif
Kazim Khan
Aisha Khan
Shabana Azmi
Aisha Khan
Cath Stevenson
Emma Thompson
Cath Stevenson
Maymouna
Sajal Ali
Maymouna
James
Oliver Chris
James
Mo the Matchmaker
Asim Chaudhry
Mo the Matchmaker
Zahid Khan
Jeff Mirza
Zahid Khan
Helena
Alice Orr-Ewing
Helena
Farooq Khan
Mim Shaikh
Farooq Khan
Yasmin Khan
Iman Boujelouah
Yasmin Khan
Nani Jan Khan
Pakiza Baig
Nani Jan Khan
Reviews
CinemaSerf
If you remember "Last Christmas" (2019) then you will have a rough idea of what to expect here with this rather formulaic, if colourful, drama. It all centres around a film being made by "Zoe" (Lily James) about the forthcoming "assisted" marriage of her lifelong friend "Kaz" (Shazad Latif). Her mother "Cath" (Dame Emma Thompson) lives next door to his family and so is relishing the family trip to Pakistan for the traditional wedding. "Zoe" is (as, I suspect, are we) pretty sceptical of the whole arrangement - getting married to someone you've only met on Skype, but proceed we do through a lively ceremony that allows Dame Emma to don her sari and dance for all she is worth (gin-fuelled!) whilst the predictable love triangle melodrama slowly, but predictably, plays out. It all comes to an head when they have returned home and she shows her film to all concerned and, just like this, it receives mixed and divisive reviews. I found this all very twee, middle class and vaguely judgmental which after a while I felt rather defeated the purpose in the first place. It is pretty clear from the start what is going to happen, and although the route to that conclusion isn't exactly a straight line, this leaves very little room for jeopardy to a plot you can see from Mars. Latif has a degree of charm to him, and some of the scenes with Lily James are quite engaging in a cheesy sort of way, but for the most part this is eminently forgettable fayre that will do fine on telly at Christmas.
Read full reviewr96sk
Largely underwhelming, even if <em>'What’s Love Got to Do with It?'</em> holds a few redeeming qualities. It's all competently shot and all that, the music for example is excellent - nice work, Nitin Sawhney & Co. The level of acting is also all good, though I wouldn't say there is necessarily anyone that stands out individually. On that note, Emma Thompson: As usual I like her, but her character isn't the best - I feel like I've seen her play the same (similar, at best) character one or two times before recently-ish, <em>'Last Christmas'</em> for example. She's merits more to work with. The story is one that is almost as old as time, like with the aforementioned I feel like I've seen this plot play out many a time. It has a couple of unique elements I guess, but overall it's pretty derivative. I'm also not sold on Lily James' Zoe being 'Player 1', so to speak... like, her character is fairly meh. In fact, I'd go as far to say that Mariam Haque's Jamila should've been the film's key - that part of the story interested me the most of anything else portrayed onscreen. Haque and Michael Marcus's portion only features relatively smally, so I kinda wish they used them two instead as their bits are the most touching. All in all, it's fine - but is too mundane and predictable to be definitively enjoyable, in my opinion of course.
Read full reviewClips (3)
WHAT'S LOVE GOT TO DO WITH IT? - Clip starring Shazad Latif, Lily James
Rahat Fateh Ali Khan in WHAT'S LOVE GOT TO DO WITH IT?
Ping-Pong Clip from WHAT'S LOVE GOT TO DO WITH IT? Starring Shazad Latif and Lily James
Featurettes (7)
STUDIOCANAL PRESENTS: THE PODCAST - Asim Chaudhry on What's Love Got to Do With It?
Pakistan True or False Quiz with Asim Chaudhry | What's Love Got to Do With It?
Pakistan True or False Quiz with producer Naughty Boy | What's Love Got to Do With It?
Whats Love Got to do with It | Dir. Shekhar Kapur Interview
Guess the Rom-Com with Emma Thompson | WHAT'S LOVE GOT TO DO WITH IT?
Love and Marriage - A deep dive from Lily James, Shazad Latif, Emma Thompson, Jemima Khan and more
Lily James and Shazad Latif take a Friendship Test - WHAT'S LOVE GOT TO DO WITH IT?
Behind the Scenes (1)
Meet the cast of WHAT'S LOVE GOT TO DO WITH IT? - Lily James, Sajal Aly, Shazad Latif, Emma Thompson