Genre: Drama/ Comedy/ Romance
Runtime: 119 minutes
Year: 2017
Starring: Kumail Nanjiani, Zoe kazan, Holly Hunter, Ray Romano, Aidy Bryant, Kurt Braunohler, Anupam Kher, Zebonia Shroff, Adeel Akhtar, Bo Burnham, Vella Lovell, Myra Lucretia Taylor
Description: Pakistan-born Kumail (Kumail Nanjiani) and grad student Emily (Zoe Kazan) fall in love but struggle as their cultures clash. When Emily contracts a mysterious illness, Kumail finds himself forced to face her feisty parents (Holly Hunter, Ray Romano), his family’s expectations and his true feelings.
Review: Stand-up comedian Kumail Nanjiani was busy making plans. He was about to break through and has also met a nice woman. And then fate struck.
The originally Pakistani comedian tells his life story in the autobiographical feel-good drama, with some small adjustments here and there. He plays himself. Kumail has a group of his friends around him with whom he not only lives together, but also performs. After a show he always has some drinks in the pub, where he meets the charming Emily.
Their relationship, which starts off as a one-time-thing, doesn’t really get a chance to flourish. Just when it all seems to go in the right direction, there are difficulties. Kumail’s family, who believe in marriage, has a potential bride for him almost every day who always 'just happen to be in the neighborhood’. But as if misunderstandings and miscommunications aren’t complex enough, fate strikes as well.
Short after Emily finds out that Kumail is supposed to marry a Pakistani woman, she gets a mysterious illness which leaves her in a coma. Kumail is forced to call her parents.
Without going into too much detail, the title isn’t a guess as to which dilemma Kumail is confronted with. How far does your responsibility go when a relationship that actually seems to be dead already? And how great are the sacrifices you want to make when the future seems hopeless? “Th Big Sick” starts out as a sweet love story, with the necessary struggles and bumps in the road. But later turns into more complicated matter. On top of that, Kumail has to deal with Emily’s parents.
Director Michael Showalter lets you deal with the change of the tone without a problem. He achieves this because he has writer his characters well and adds the new characters he gradually introduces with sufficient unpredictability and sympathy.
If “The Big Sick” has only been a comedy about difficulties and setbacks, a bit in the tone of Judd Apatow, then two hours of runtime really would have been too much. Bu Showalter’s good balance of drama and lighter moments makes it easy to keep your attention and stay entertained. The real Kumail, who was co-responsible for the screenplay, has not only written his own experiences with this very successful feature film, but also knows how to look back on it with proper self-reflection. His dialogues are subtle and are a hit and the casting of Zoe Kazan as his opponent is a master move.
“The Big Sick” is a true breath of fresh air. I loved the story, the cast, the whole tone of the film. I can recommend this to anyone.
Rating: 4,5/ 5
