I’m glad
this movie came to my local theater. I
first heard about it a while back, and it piqued my interest. It’s a fine romantic dramedy with lots of
heart (as well as lots of skepticism, which is an impressive combination to
pull off,) and I’m glad I had a chance to see it (premise spoilers.)
Based on
a true story, The Big Sick follows
Kumail, a Pakistani aspiring comedian working in Chicago, through the ups and
downs of his relationship with Emily, a white American grad student studying
psychology. He falls more quickly and
more deeply for her than he expected, but he can’t bring himself to tell his
family for fear that they’ll disown him if they know he’s dating a white
non-Muslim girl. Kumail’s reticence to
bring these two sides of his life together cause friction between him and
Emily, and they have a blow-up that results in a break-up… right before Emily
is hospitalized for a mysterious illness that leads to a medically-induced
coma. Suddenly, Kumail is caught up in
what’s happening, stuck at the hospital with her parents as all three of them
worry, wait, and wonder, forging an unlikely connection in the process.
There are
several mini-worlds that are all well-realized in this film: we have Kumail and Emily’s dating life, his
family life, his stand-up comedian life, and, of course, his hospital life with
Emily’s parents. Each sphere is nicely
fleshed-out in its own right, but they also intersect with each other in
interesting, unlikely ways. The humor
strikes a careful balance, knowing when to step in to diffuse the tension and
when to back off and let things play out as seriously as they need to.
I’m
impressed with the depiction of Kumail and Emily’s relationship. Given the fact that Emily spends half the
film in a coma, the movie still does a good job establishing her and giving her
a strong presence in the film. I can
feel the temptation to Manic Pixie Dream Girl her, but the film largely resists
it, taking just enough air out of Kumail’s sails whenever it becomes more about
his idea of her rather than her as she really is. (I’m sure it helps that the real-life Kumail
and Emily wrote the film together.)
Playing
himself, Kumail Nanjiani offers up a complex character – not always likeable
but always engaging and ultimately rootable.
Zoe Kazan does a fine job bringing Emily to life, and Ray Romano and
Holly Hunter are excellent as her parents.
The film also features SNL’s
Aidy Bryant as one of Kumail’s comedian buddies and Vella Lovell (Heather from Crazy Ex-Girlfriend) as one of the “nice
Pakistani girls” Kumail’s mother likes to arrange to “drop by unexpectedly”
whenever he comes over for dinner.
Warnings
Language,
sexual content, drinking, and thematic elements.
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