disappointment media
  • Home
  • Reviews
  • Interviews
  • The Snake Hole
  • About

WHAT'S LOVE GOT TO DO WITH IT? -- A Charming Albeit Generic Intercultural Rom-Com

5/1/2023

0 Comments

 
Review by Sean Boelman
Picture
The title is admittedly a bit generic — and the film isn’t particularly groundbreaking either — but there is still plenty to love about What’s Love Got To Do With It? Although the film is somewhat weighed down by a conventional script, it’s charming and enjoyable. What more could you want from a rom-com like this?

The film follows a documentarian who decides to make a film about her best friend’s assisted marriage, causing her to challenge her own beliefs about love and relationships. As is the case with many romantic comedies about matchmaking, this follows the familiar formula: cynical single person has their heart opened to love by seeing someone else experience it.

There’s no denying the infectiously adorable energy of the film. Sure, it’s predictable from the first moment to the last, and it is nowhere near as groundbreaking or innovative as it seems to think it is, but it’s charming. The film does suffer from the rushed third act jitters characteristic of the rom-com genre.

Lily James and Shazad Latif have great chemistry together — almost too good, in fact, to the point where it begins to work against the film. Because they click together so extraordinarily well, the film ends up revealing its hand too early and becomes entirely predictable. Emma Thompson also has a charming supporting bit.
Picture
Although the film’s abundance of strong cultural representation is welcome, it’s admittedly a bit frustrating that the film chose to frame this all through the perspective of a white protagonist. Although the film clearly aims to destigmatize this type of “assisted” matchmaking, presenting it from the perspective of an outsider has the accidental effect of otherizing the aspect of South Asian culture it portrays.

The character development in the film also leaves something to be desired. The protagonist has a subplot about being a single woman in her 30s and the anxieties that come with that, and it feels underdeveloped. The co-lead’s relationship with his family also feels like it should have been more fleshed out.

For the most part, the film’s a standard, if vibrant romantic comedy from a stylistic standpoint. That being said, the film does get points off for not including the eponymous Tina Turner song in its soundtrack. (Not really, but why use that as the title if you’re not going to bother getting the rights to use the song? And it would have worked perfectly over the opening or closing credits.)

What’s Love Got To Do With It? is conventional, predictable, and even often cheesy, but there’s no denying that it’s charming. For those looking for a quaint, breezy rom-com, this one certainly fits the bill.

What’s Love Got To Do With It? hits theaters on May 5.

Rating: 3.5/5
               
0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    Archives

    May 2025
    April 2025
    March 2025
    February 2025
    January 2025
    December 2024
    November 2024
    October 2024
    July 2024
    June 2024
    May 2024
    April 2024
    March 2024
    February 2024
    January 2024
    December 2023
    November 2023
    October 2023
    September 2023
    August 2023
    July 2023
    June 2023
    May 2023
    April 2023
    March 2023
    February 2023
    January 2023
    December 2022
    November 2022
    October 2022
    September 2022
    August 2022
    July 2022
    June 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019

    Authors

    All
    Adam Donato
    Alan French
    Allison Brown
    Borja Izuzquiz
    Camden Ferrell
    Cole Groth
    Daniel Lima
    Dan Skip Allen
    Erin M. Brady
    Jonathan Berk
    Joseph Fayed
    Josh Batchelder
    Paris Jade
    Rafael Motamayor
    Sarah Williams
    Sean Boelman
    Tatiana Miranda

disappointment media

Dedicated to unique and diverse perspectives on cinema!
  • Home
  • Reviews
  • Interviews
  • The Snake Hole
  • About