The Big Sick (2017, R)

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.