The Big Sick review

The Big Sick is a dramatic comedy about an interracial couple whose relationship is tested when one of them is put into a coma.

I like Kumail Nanjiani in everything he's in. Even in something as awful as Fist Fight, I was able to forgive him as he needs to appear in mainstream comedies to help get financing for films like this. Of course, having Judd Apatow on to produce helps aswell.

I really enjoyed The Big Sick, it was funny, well written, moving, and, most importantly, not over the top. Some of the best scenes of the film are when Kumail (playing himself) is having dinner with his parents, who are trying to set him up with an arranged marriage. These scenes are reminiscent of the religious parent interactions in Aziz Ansari's excellent show Master of None. I didn't have a problem with the similarity as their experiences were different enough not to be the same.

For the majority of the film Zoe Kazan (as Kumail's girlfriend and future wife Emily) is in a coma. Before she is put under, co-writers and presented couple Nanjiani and Emily V. Gordon do a good job of making them a believable on screen couple. Credit must also be given to Michael Showalter's direction as helping make the relationship believable. As half the lead couple is in a coma for over an hour of the movie, Kumail has a lot of interactions with Emily's parents in the hospital waiting room and cafeteria. These range from Meet the Parents style awkward encounters, but without the moderator of the girlfriend, to full on comedic moments, one of which being a legitimately hilarious terrorism joke, to serious conversations about Emily's health and the relationships between her and Kumail, and between her parents.

There is one part of the film which stops me from loving it: Kumail's stand-up friends. They're played by Bo Burnham and Aidy Bryant and they just came off as annoying and obnoxious, and not in a good way. Their inclusion feels like Apatow saying he wants an Apatow improvisation part to the film, and Showalter saying OK because it's Judd Apatow and just lets them improvise for half an hour. In these parts the direction actually looks different and took me out of the film.

In short: The Big Sick is an extremely effective unconventional rom-com.