I appear on “CTV News at 6” with anchor Andria Case to talk about the best movies and television to watch this weekend. This week I have a look at the Apple TV+ documentary “Still: A Michael J. Fox Movie,” the Crave sports doc “Angel City,” the big screen rom com “What’s Love Got to Do with It?” starring Lily James and the Paul Schrader film “Master Gardener.”
Watch the whole thing HERE!
I join NewsTalk 1010 host Jim Richards on the coast-to-coast-to-coast late night “NewsTalk Tonight” to play the game “Did Richard Crouse Like This?” This week we talk about the pedal to the metal “Fast X,” the drama “Master Gardener” and the rom com with a twist, “What’s Love Got to Do With It?”
Listen to the whole thing HERE!
I join CTV NewsChannel anchor Marcia MacMillan to talk about the pedal to the metal “Fast X,” the drama “Master Gardener” and the rom com with a twist, “What’s Love Got to Do With It?”
Watch the whole thing HERE!
I sit in with CKTB morning show host Tim Denis to have a look at the pedal to the metal “Fast X,” the drama “Master Gardener” and the rom com with a twist, “What’s Love Got to Do With It?”
Listen to the whole thing HERE!
I joined CP24 to have a look at new movies coming to VOD, streaming services and theatres. Today we talk about the pedal to the metal “Fast X,” the drama “Master Gardener” and the rom com with a twist, “What’s Love Got to Do With It?”
Watch the whole thing HERE!
I join “CP24 Breakfast” to talk about what to see in theatres and on streaming service this weekend, including the pedal to the metal “Fast X,” the rom com with a twist, “What’s Love Got to Do With It?” and the Paramount+ reality show “The Family Stallone.”
Watch the whole thing HERE!
I sit in on the CFRA Ottawa morning show with host Bill Carroll to talk the new movies coming to theatres including the pedal to the metal “Fast X,” the drama “Master Gardener” and the rom com with a twist, “What’s Love Got to Do With It?”
Listen to the whole thing HERE!
Watch as I review three movies in less time than it takes to button your shirt! Have a look as I race against the clock to tell you about the pedal to the metal “Fast X,” the drama “Master Gardener” and the rom com with a twist, “What’s Love Got to Do With It?”
Watch the whole thing HERE!
“What’s Love Got to Do with It,” starring Lily James, fresh off “Pam and Tommy,” and Shazad Latif, and now playing in theatres, is a rom com that examines the customs surrounding arranged marriages.
James plays Zoe, an award-winning British documentary filmmaker focussed on her work. She swipes right from time to time, but says, “I’m still interviewing. I haven’t met the one yet.”
“I’m fine without a boring old prince,” she says.
Her childhood next door neighbor, Kaz (Latif), now a handsome and successful doctor, doesn’t use dating apps, because he’s agreed to follow the example of his traditional Pakistani parents.
“I’m going old school on this one,” he says. “I’m getting an arranged marriage. Well, ‘assisted marriage.’ That’s what we’re calling it these days.”
“What,” Zoe jokes, “like assisted suicide?”
When he spouts data that suggests the divorce rate is lower among those with arranged marriages, she proposes that she follow the process, from introduction to marriage, with camera in hand. Her bosses go for the idea, even if they jokingly call the planned documentary, “Love Contractually.”
Zoe interviews other British couples with arranged marriages until Kaz gets engaged via Skype to Maymouna (Sajal Aly), a law student from Pakistan. “Love at first Skype,” says Zoe. Travelling to Lahore for the wedding, Zoe focuses her camera on Kaz as he “walks into love.”
“What’s Love Got to Do with it?” refreshes the usual rom com formula while still hewing the line enough to be recognizable within the genre. Director Shekhar Kapur, working with a script from Jemima Khan, embraces most, but not all, of the tropes of the genre. They forgo the most obvious—and often most odious—rom com conventions, in favor of something deeper. It’s still a rom com, but the absence of the usual meet cutes and airport runs are welcome omissions.
Kapur tugs at the heartstrings in the film’s closing moments, amping up the melodrama to provide an unexpectedly emotional finale, even if the actual ending of the film is completely expected. Much of that impact is due to the chemistry between James and Latif. An easy charm exists between them, the kind of vibe that makes the audience feel like they really did grow up next door to one another. That relationship goes a long way to adding dimension to their story, both platonic and possibly even romantic.
“What’s Love Got to Do with It?” is an elevated rom com which challenges the idea of love as a sweet old-fashioned notion.
