The love punch (Emma Thompson)

(Amazon UK link)

It’s ten years since we watched the 2013 film ‘The love punch’. Neither of us could recall anything about it, and we wanted something light to watch. So we decided on this film, noting that all four of the main cast were people we knew of. We’re not generally very aware of a lot of famous actors, so this was unusual.

Emma Thompson is wonderful as the middle-aged divorced Kate. We see her at a wedding, bumping into her ex-husband Richard (Pierce Brosnan). It’s clear that they still have things in common, but they can’t seem to exchange more than a couple of sentences without being unpleasant to each other. Emma Thompson has a gift of becoming the person she is playing - and I thoroughly enjoyed her role. 

Pierce Brosnan doesn’t seem to be quite as versatile; while the role of Richard is different from his best-known James Bond, there’s still a fair bit in common with the two. He looks and sounds like himself; not that it’s a problem, since his character fits very well with that of the businessman Richard. 

Kate has good neighbours who are close friends: Pen (Celia Imrie) and Jerry (Timothy Spall). Pen thinks that Kate would be a good match for her tennis coach, who is a rather klutzy over-keen person. Kate tries to be polite, and agrees to a dinner date with her neighbours and the coach…

However, this isn’t just a relationship-based film. Richard is a week away from retiring from a flourishing company which has been bought by a French organisation. He learns, to his horror, that the company has been run to the ground, and that his pension (and that of all his employees) is gone. This affects Kate, too, so they come up with a plan to get their money back. And it gets more and more bizarre as the film progresses.

Indeed, there’s more than a nod to the James Bond films, as well as others. The film seems to include a lot of adventure tropes - and I don’t watch many films of that nature. There’s an exciting car chase where Kate demonstrates unusual skill. There’s a scene where all four of the principal actors, dressed in wet suits and snorkels, wade into the sea, to the amusement of children nearby.  And there's a van almost falling off a cliff face. 

In addition, there’s a scene high up in a hotel building, climbing in and out of windows and balancing precariously. And there’s a jewel heist… or, at least, a planned one. To say more would give too many spoilers. But we thought it all extremely well done. There’s some humour, though nothing that made us laugh aloud. The chemistry between the actors is perfect; we could totally believe in Kate and Richard as a couple who married too young but are still fond of each other, deep down. 

I loved the way that Pen and Jerry are evidently very happily married. Through the course of the film, Jerry reveals, in passing, various unexpected information from his past, which Pen knew nothing about. But it’s done for humorous effect, even though she becomes quite stressed about it. Jerry just ‘happens to know’ rather a lot of people who are able to help in the unlikely and bizarre plot that slowly plays out.

There’s excellent comic timing, some great repartee, and the slapstick nature of some of the more humorous scenes is not overdone, but choreographed perfectly.  

The rating is 12, which seems about right; there’s nothing explicit, but a great deal that’s implied. I don’t think I’d show this to anyone under the age of about 15 or 16 anyway. 

There aren’t many extras, but we did watch some short interviews with each of the four principal actors. They didn’t really tell us anything new, but were quite interesting to see.

Recommended, if this kind of rom-com with a difference (and some silliness) appeals. 

Review copyright 2025 Sue's DVD Reviews