The Big Sick - Review

Spoiler note: I do not consider anything written here to be a spoiler. If however you would like to go into this film with no preconceptions clouding your enjoyment of it, just know I give it 4/5 stars and recommend you do so. Also, why are you reading a review? Not judging, just saying…

Admittedly I went into this movie with a positive bias. I first properly encountered Kumail Nanjiani’s brand of mischief on the D&D segment of the podcast Harmontown. His character, Chris de Burgh, was a rogue given to tying ropes to various objects. He brought the same improv genius to the web series Harmonquest as the wry gold-digging kobold Eddie Lizzard. The Big Sick by contrast is as far removed from fantasy as possible.

Written by Kumail Nanjiani and his wife Emily V Gordon, The Big Sick is a piece of autobiographical comedy – Nanjiani even plays himself. Calling it a rom com feels vaguely disrespectful, but probably only because of my personal prejudice against the genre. The film follows Kumail and Emily’s romance, and as with most rom coms the relationship starts out heady and charming before descending into difficulties. This however is where any structural cliché ends. Initially it seems as though the villain of the piece might be cultural difference, Kumail’s family expects him to settle down with a Pakistani Muslim girl and the couple struggle with this. However, as the title suggests, illness is at the crux of this film. Emily contracts a serious illness, and it is this eventuality that leads Kumail to meet Emily’s parents, played superbly by Ray Romano and Holly Hunter.

This story does not sound funny. Facing the prospect of being ostracised from your family while your girlfriend lies gravely ill is not funny. But it is realistic, it follows a true story very intimately, and life does not divide itself neatly into comedy and tragedy. The acting supports the writing in this respect, with great performances from every cast member. Minor characters had me in stitches as much as Nanjiani did, so some credit must be due to Michael Showalter’s direction. It was a pleasant surprise that a director known for surreal parody (think Wet Hot American Summer or They Came Together) could master such naturalistic comedy. On the other hand, the whole experience must have felt surreal to Nanjiani and Gordon, so perhaps that was the secret ingredient. There are very few actually dramatic moments, Nanjiani and Gordon refrain so many times from overstatement, even in moments where structurally it would make sense, and therein lies their comic triumph. The movie takes it at a gentle pace, avoiding the usual traps of romantic comedy, which gives the jokes an edge, and always there is a sense of ‘shit…what next?’

This is a great film, it’s an important film, and it is a very funny film. Go see for yourself. Or watch the trailer here first.

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