What's Love Got to do With It? - Blu-ray Review

[Michael Scott]

What's Love Got to do With It?



Movie:
Video:
Audio:
Extras:
Final Score:



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Movie
Director Shekhar Kapur hit the ground running years ago in the United States, creating the highly lauded historical drama Elizabeth, as well as the sequel (and of course Heath Ledger western film The Four Feathers, a wildly under rated Ledger flick), only to summarily vanish from directing feature films for about 15 years. So when I learned that he had a new theatrical project coming up I was more than eager to check out his return to the big screen. The Pakistani director had an incredible eye for filmography, and coupled with his impeccable casting choices, I was certain to love What’s Love Got to do With It?…..or so I thought.

The film starts out simply enough, with award winning documentarian Zoe (Lily James) look for her next project in London. However, she happens to live next door to the Khan family, and have been friends with their son Kaz (Shazad Latif) since childhood, so when news of his arranged wedding search reached her Zoe immediately gained inspiration and figured she could do a documentary about the pros and cons of arranged marriages in the modern world. So, with Kaz’s permission, Zoe dives straight behind the camera, capturing every moment of the 32 year old’s search for a Bride that would satiate his parents, as well as be a suitable mate for himself as well.

Naturally things don’t go as planned (this is a Rom-Com, even one directed by a director such as Shekar Kapur can’t overcome that sort of genre weight), and not only to Kaz and Zoe’s feelings get muddled up, but so do the rest of the Khan family as they’re forced to confront the sins of their past and the struggles of actually finding love in a world that seems to have strayed so far from the traditions of family, and duty, and honor. Not to mention the endearing (if not overly dramatized) antics of Zoe’s well meaning and overly enthusiastic mother Cath (Emma Thompson).

I’m hard pressed to give a solid definition for the tone of this movie. On the surface it features the typical tropes of a rom-com, but under the surface it acts as a character study for Zoe (and in a smaller way, Kaz) as she struggles with growing older, not finding love, and genuinely searching for what she wants. Her lens is the lens through which we see the Khans, and as the film progresses it’s not hard to see that her lens is more than a bit warped. She can’t grasp cultural and gender divides, and her own self identity is nearly nonexistent. The Sam with Kaz really. He’s a 32 year old man engaged to a 22 year old woman, he’s trying to find out what “love” means in an arranged marriage, and his duty and family honor have blinded himself to everything ABOUT himself, no matter how much he struggles to be the dutiful son.

As grim and thought provoking as it is, What’s Love Got to do With It? Doesn’t shy away from the Rom-Com tropes and the most telegraphed ending that I have ever seen in my life. Have you seen shows like How I Met Your Mother where the show had a designed ending from the beginning, but halfway through the show it’s obvious that ending has been outgrown? Then the series produces find a way to cram the ending into the series that no longer even remotely resembles what was supposed to be? Well that’s what this is right here. You can almost hear the writers and producers saying “well, we need Kaz and Zoe to hook up in the end. You think you can do it?” after Shekhar Kapur has spent the last hour and a half grinding through an intense character study that feels like a sappy rom-com ending would simply undermine….then they went ahead and did it anyways despite being warned. Yeah, that’s what this ending is right here. A syrupy sweet, overly telegraphed, typical Rom-Com “opposites attract” ending that you would expect on a Hallmark movie and not this particular movie.




Rating:

Not Rated by the MPAA




Video:

IMDB (nor the rest of the internet) has much information on the filming style and the resolution of the master used for What’s Love Got to do With It?, but the end credits of the film have Arri Alexa cameras listed as well as a digital DCP used for the film. With that in mind, this is a VERY nice looking image with a slightly warmer hue than normal, showcasing brighter primary colors in the Indian weddings, and stunning visuals in London’s damp and dreary looking cityscape. Fine details are more than amenable, with fantastic close ups and amazing black levels. I noticed a teensy bit of banding in the night sky when Zoe gets dumped, as well as some minor crush when Zoe and Kaz view the prayer ceremony, but other than that, this is an amazing looking digital picture.









Audio:

The 5.1 DTS-HD MA English audio track (along with the downmixed 2.0 track that Shout Factory is famous for in the same lossless encoding) is not exactly built for shock and awe. The mix is instead geared for your traditional Rom-Com design, with a ton of activity in the front of the room with the dialog (a VERY talky film), with the Pakistani wedding nuptials music bits to liven things up a bit. Surrounds and mains get used equally with the traditional musical numbers, and the mildly with the ambient noises and hubbub of Downtown London. Bass acts merely to accentuate the music, otherwise it is very content to slide into the background. An all around appreciable mix, fitting in well with the Rom-Com constraints and genre expectations.












Extras:

• Behind the Scenes
• Theatrical Trailer

Final Score:
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What’s Love Have to do With It? Isn’t a bad film, and actually has a lot going for it. The entire middle act with Zoe and Kaz actually finding themselves midst a sea of tradition and (for Kaz) and over indulgence (for Zoe) is extremely compelling. The heartbreaking tale of families torn apart by selfishness and misunderstanding was fantastic. But the overly cliched “seen it a mile away” ending simply ruins any headway that Kapur has made, and even made it feel like the chemistry between Zoe and Kaz was overly manufactured. Simply put, great idea, solid implementation for part of the movie, and then things go off the rails. The audio is good, video great, but only 2 extras on the disc. Personally, this would be one I would caution as a rental, as I’m not sure fans of Kapur’s work OR fans of traditional Rom-Coms will instinctively enjoy this one. Rental.


Technical Specifications:

Starring: Emma Thompson, LIly James, Shazad Latif, Shabana Azmi, Jeff Mirza
Directed by: Shekhar Kapur
Written by: Jemima Khan
Aspect Ratio: 2.39:1 AVC
Audio: English: DTS-HD MA 5.1, English DTS-HD MA 2.0
Subtitles: English
Studio: Shout Factory
Rated: NR
Runtime: 109 minutes
Blu-Ray Release Date: September 19th, 2023

Recommendation: Rental