The Big Sick (2017)

(HAVE ANOTHER INCREDIBLY LATE AND INCREDIBLY LACK-LUSTER REVIEW!!!)

• Directed by Michael Showalter
• Starring Kumail Nanjiani, Zoe Kazan, Holly Hunter, Ray Romano
• Written by Emily V. Gordon, Kumail Nanjiani
• Comedy, Romance
• Rated R
• 120 mins.
• 14 July 2017

Synopsis

A couple struggle with cultural differences and break up, but shortly after the woman becomes critically ill and must be put into a medically induced coma, bringing the man to her side and into the path of her parents, all of whom have to navigate the difficulties of their situation together while someone they love is incredibly ill.

How’s the Story?

I love this story because it’s based on the real life of Kumail Nanjiani and Emily V. Gordon, who I have known of for a long time. He’s a great comedian and I’ve seen him and his wife together a few times and always have that ‘awww they’re so cute’ reaction. Learning about the coma situation made me go, ‘oh wow!’ and even if this is a fictionalized retelling of that event in their lives, it’s something you can really feel.

The way this movie tackles cultural differences in an interracial relationship is so beautifully done and I really loved how this story unfolded.

How’s the Acting?

The acting is really good. I’ve only ever seen Kumail Nanjiani doing stand-up, actually. I know he has been in movies before, but I’ve never seen any, so I was really surprised by how good of an actor he is. I’ve never heard of Zoe Kazan before this, but she did a great job. I was also really impressed by Holly Hunter in this film. Not to say Ray Romano was bad, but Holly Hunter really felt more true in her performance of the two of them.

How’s the Writing/Directing?

The writing for this movie has so much heart and depth that even in scenes where the comedy should feel forced or out of place, it isn’t. It’s just perfectly integrated. This movie had such a good flow that it’s kind of amazing that it could be so long and not feel so long.

How’s the Cinematography?

I’m a big fan of the simplicity with which this movie is filmed. I love the feeling of ‘truth’ that you get from how straight-forward and simple the camera work on this movie is. It feels raw and intimate and this would have been so easy to ruin with the wrong color palettes and the wrong lighting. The balance for how this movie is shot is really a character in it’s own way, because it would not have been the same movie without the choices that were made on some of the tiniest things to do with the film-making.

Is It Worth Watching?

This was just a beautiful story, a beautiful film, and something very powerful and moving. The comedy is spot on, it has so much heart, and the only things that I didn’t entirely love were mostly some of the pacing in the first third.

It wasn’t a bad first third by any means, it just felt kind of weird. I still loved this movie, weird pacing at the start or not, but once you get into the second act, this movie is money. It’s just fucking perfect. I cannot say much more without spoilers, but it’s just such a shocking winner.

Two weeks before this movie went wide-release, I hadn’t even heard of it, I only saw it was coming out because I caught Kumail Nanjiani on a late night talk show, and then by the time it came out where I could see it, it was all that anybody was talking about. At the start of this year, I never would’ve guessed a Kumail Nanjiani movie would be in my top 5 movies of the year, but here we are!

My Rating: 8/10