What does love have to do with this? Revision

Arranged marriage, or assisted marriage as it’s now called, is a sensitive subject from which to build a very traditional rom-com. The rules of the genre almost demand a dizzying romance that defies society or fate, and a relationship supported by her parents doesn’t lead to that. That didn’t dissuade Shekhar Kapur and screenwriter Jemima Khan from this twist on the subject, but perhaps it should have.

The problem is that rom-com grammar demands an outcome that the story and the characters don’t really support. Commitment-phobic documentary filmmaker Zoe (Lily James) is looking for her next subject when she learns that her friend Kazim (Shazad Latif) has decided to pursue assisted marriage and settle down as her parents. She convinces him to let her film the search, but her personal and philosophical doubts threaten both hers and her plans.

Kapur and Khan have done their best to point out the virtues of assisted marriage and the shortcomings of Western romantic marriage (the disparity in divorce rates is stark), but that cultural sensibility is undermined all along the film’s path to romance between the two. people on the poster, which doesn’t win at all. Latif, so good Star Trek: Discovery, is a likeable and assertive presence as Kaz, who displays a knack for lighthearted comedy with a twist, like when he reminds Zoe and her mother Cath (Emma Thompson) that she has to get to the airport early to get ready for ‘all random searches. James is less sympathetic but at least convincingly torn between personal and professional loyalties. The problem is that they spend relatively little time together, and even less time together, so any potential romance has to rely heavily on a history of childhood friendship and awkward first kisses and a few stares.

Shabana Azmi is wonderful as Aisha, Kazim’s mother, collected and affectionate for the most part but stern when necessary, and Sajal Ali is an irresistible bride-to-be for Kazim as Maymouna. Surprisingly, Thompson is worse than Cath. Maybe we should blame it on being an odd role: Cath is mad at her neighbors and likes to share their food, clothes, and partying, but she also throws insensitive language and (at the very least) microaggressions on a regular basis. . Perhaps it’s worth pointing out how rude all these off-the-cuff comments are, but coming from a character we otherwise seem to love, it’s baffling. Maybe that’s the goal.

Kapur spins it all brilliantly but not too brilliantly, in a recognizably middle-class London rather than the millionaire version of Richard Curtis, and in Lahore. But the film drags on about planning a wedding that the audience can’t believe, never chasing romance, whether it’s present or not. There’s probably some touching character part to be done in this type of match, but it never quite gets there.