Comedies this year have been dreadful. It is like no stand-up comedian could come up with any joke for one hour and all I got were a few chuckles and cricket noises. I have to be honest that I have been craving for not solely a comedy but also a good romantic comedy because we have not had one of those in an awfully long time. I thought I had lost hope for a good comedy until this movie came along and I thought, "Gee...we may have something here." I came out of the theater thinking that I was not pleased with the film but I actually witnessed a story of consequences and heart that dealt with more issues not solely because they are an interracial couple but because they do truly love each other and it is a bumpy road when dealing with a multitude of issues. And, I believe The Big Sick handles their story perfectly since it comes from a true story.
Kumail (Kumail Nanjiani) works an Uber driver in Chicago in between stand-up gigs, intertwining jokes with his multicultural, personal life. He frequently performs with comics CJ, Mary and Chris (Bo Burnham, Aidy Bryant and Kurt Braunohler). During one of Kumail's stand-up performances, a woman named Emily Gardner (Zoe Kazan) cheers him on. After the performance, Kumail talks to Emily and thinks it is rude to heckle performers and comedians, but Emily defends herself by standing she only gave him a "woo-hoo!" Kumail and Emily get along as Emily states that she is in graduate school, studying to be a therapist. They do spend the night together on their first date.
While being in the middle of a Pakistani marriage arrangement, Kumail continues to see Emily without his family knowing. Kumail tells his brother, Naveed (Adeel Ahktar) that he is dating a white woman during lunch. Naveed is surprised and tells Kumail that he should follow the tradition by marrying a Pakistani woman, otherwise, his family would disown him.
Later, Emily notices a cigar box in Kumail's apartment that is filled with all the photos of women that his parents recommend to contact. When she questions him, Kumail reveals that he is in the middle of a whole arranged marriage deal, and also that his family does not know anything about her. Emily gets upset and storms out of the apartment. Later, that night, Kumail gets a call from a friend telling him that Emily has been admitted to the hospital and Kumail is being told by the doctor that she has a lung infection and that she needs to be in a medically-induced coma. Kumail contacts her parents, Beth and Terry (Holly Hunter and Ray Romano) as Beth is not as accepting as Terry is but they all have to wait it out for the doctors to remove the infection inside Beth's lungs.
This is a wonderful movie that is funny, heartwarming, emotional, touching and perceptive. I felt like I was a participant amongst real people or real characters that recite natural dialogue that comes out in everyday life. But, also it is a cross-cultural struggle for Kumail as he has to decide between listening to his parents by following tradition or by following his heart. What is best for him during these tough times? For example, he gently rejects a Pakistani woman, due to an arranged dinner, but she replies that even though she warms up to him during dinner, she hates the "X-Files", which is his favorite show. He wants to be in a relationship that is more truthful and that has more compassion.
What's also great about this movie is that the characters are relatable and the cast does a great job portraying their characters as not caricatures or archetypes of one-dimensional goofballs or stereotypical ethnic people from other Hollywood films but as natural human beings. Kumail Nanjani gives a good performance that delivers sharp, deadpan humor but sometimes, his humor does not drag down the gentler moments. But, also, he delivers some surprisingly emotional moments. However, it may not be surprising as he told the story (it is his and his wife's story) to the screenwriters. Zoe Kazan had a challenge because she spends half of the movie in a coma, however, her character is not too quirky she delivers a balance of emotion and humor that carries on through the whole movie. She and Nanjani play off each other real well. The best characters in the movie are her parents, though, as Hunter and Romano (his best performance in a movie ever) play characters who are mostly a support group for Emily and Kumail as the latter's parents do not accept his reality. They are excellent.
Director Michael Showalter and writers Nanjani and Emily V. Gordon, Nanjani's wife, provides a truthful look of what an interracial couple's relationship would bring and creates more of a burden on one side but a heartwarming example of love on another. People say it is crowd-pleasing entertainment and I'll go on record and type it in too. This is probably one of the best romantic comedies in a long time as the writing overcomes cliches in structure as the coma would have easily been structured as a climactic situation to have Kumail overcome his struggles. No, there is an additional layer of kindness and agency for one's character as she offers more agency to her character as to how she still feels. This is one of the best movies of the year as the movie offers fresh perspectives and angles in a couple that earns your attention, intelligence and sometimes, your tears.
****
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