“What’s Love Got to Do with It”, which is incidentally not associated with the 1993 Tina Turner biopic, is as predictable as your typical romantic comedy. Right from when its two lead characters appear together at the beginning of the film, it is quite apparent to us that they will eventually open their eyes to their mutual feeling around the ending, and the movie just spices up the following process with some specific cultural flavor for our little entertainment. The overall result is thankfully not tedious at all, but this is still a run-of-the-mill stuff which will not surprise you a lot if you are a seasoned moviegoer like me.

The two lead characters of the movie are Zoe Stevenson (Lily James) and Kaz Khan (Shazad Latif). Zoe and Khan grew up together because their families happened to live right next to each other in a suburban neighborhood near London, and Zoe and her mother Cath (Emma Thompson) have been pretty much like close family members to Kaz and his Pakistani immigrant family. During the opening part, we see Zoe going to the wedding ceremony of Kaz’s older brother which is being held at Kaz’s family house, and her mother is already having lots of fun there as your average free spirit.

When Zoe comes across Kaz at their old favorite spot outside the house, Kaz tells her that he is going to try matchmaking for a practical reason. Because he does not believe much in romance, he decided to choose someone recommended to him via matchmaking instead, and it goes without saying that Kaz’s old-fashioned parents are delighted for his decision. After all, he is a good hospital doctor with a nice background, and he will be quite an excellent suitor for any young unmarried Pakistani girl out there.

In contrast to Kas, Zoe really believes in love, though she still has not had any serious romantic relationship yet. Often babysitting the two kids of a close female friend of hers, she envies her friend’s cozy family life, but there is not much luck for her, though her mother is quite eager to introduce her to anyone who looks like Mr. Right for her. As a matter of fact, her mother later attempts a sort of matchmaking between Zoe and a veterinarian who handles the latest problem of her mother’s pet dog.

Meanwhile, as watching Kaz going in the opposite direction, Zoe comes to have a little interesting idea about what she is going to do next as a promising documentary filmmaker. She will closely follow and record Kaz’s matchmaking process on her camera, and Kaz and his family do not have any problem with that because of their big trust on her.

At first, everything goes fairly well within a short time. Not long after consulting with a professional matchmaker, Naz is introduced to a young unmarried woman living in Lahore, Pakistan. After a series of online video conversations, he and she agree to marry in Lahore, and Zoe and her mother soon go there along with Kaz and his excited family.

Of course, things get a bit more complicated than before as Zoe comes to spend more time with Kaz as a part of her ongoing filmmaking process. It becomes more evident to us that they are attracted to each other more than they can admit, but Kaz is going to stick to his plan to the end, and Zoe certainly wants the good ending for her documentary.

In the meantime, the screenplay by co-producer Jemima Khan steadily coasts along its predictable narrative arc, and director Shekhar Kapur, an Indian filmmaker mainly known for “Elizabeth” (1998) and its 2007 sequel, throws some fun moments during the following wedding ceremony. Although her character feels a bit too broad at times, Emma Thompson is clearly having a ball here, and she has an uproarious moment when her character impulsively joins a bunch of dancing girls in the middle of the wedding ceremony.

It is not much of a spoiler to tell you that Zoe and Kaz finally come to recognize their longtime mutual feelings during the last act, but the movie keeps things rolling at least mainly thanks to the low-key chemistry between its two likable lead performers. While Lily James, who recently received an Emmy nomination for TV miniseries “Pam & Tommy”, brings a considerable amount of natural charm to her character, Shazad Latif functions well as her counterpart, and they effortlessly swing back and forth between comedy and drama. In case of several substantial supporting performers, Sajal Ali and Oliver Chris acquit themselves well despite their thankless roles, and Shabana Azmi, Jeff Mirza, Iman Boujelouah, and Pakiza Baig bring a bit of extra fun to the story as Kaz’s colorful family members.

In conclusion, “What’s Love Got to Do with It” does not bring anything new to its familiar genre territory. It is fairly enjoyable on the whole, but I cannot help but think of Nida Manzoor’s “Polite Society” (2023), another recent comedy film about Pakistani British people which also revolves around matchmaking and wedding ceremony. That movie has much more humor, spirit, and personality than this mild genre product in my humble opinion, and, to be frank with you, I want to revisit that little gem sooner or later. I will not stop you from watching “What’s Love Got to Do with It” if you have a spare time to kill, but, believe me, you will have more laughs if you watch “Polite Society” instead.