The Big Sick
The Big Sick
R | 23 June 2017 (USA)
The Big Sick Trailers

Pakistan-born comedian Kumail Nanjiani and grad student Emily Gardner fall in love but struggle as their cultures clash. When Emily contracts a mysterious illness, Kumail finds himself forced to face her feisty parents, his family's expectations, and his true feelings.

Reviews
Steineded How sad is this?
CommentsXp Best movie ever!
Merolliv I really wanted to like this movie. I feel terribly cynical trashing it, and that's why I'm giving it a middling 5. Actually, I'm giving it a 5 because there were some superb performances.
Hulkeasexo it is the rare 'crazy' movie that actually has something to say.
Devran ikiz The Big Sick is a film about the interracial relationship of a Pakistani Muslim guy and an American girl. The story is loosely based on the real-life of the starring actor Kumail Nanjiani and his wife Emily. It is also written by the couple, and got itself a nomination for the Best Original Screenplay. The Big Sick has a runtime of 117 minutes and released on January 20, 2017 in Sundance Film Festival. The Big Sick is one of the films in which you can feel the reality American culture and their lifestyle. The Big Sick is produced by Judd Apatow. I am very familiar with his work and know what to expect from his films, but this film manages to put itself in a totally different place than his usual productions. In The Big Sick, we see Kumail, playing himself, as an amateur standup comedian and an Uber driver. During one of his performances he meets Emily and they start dating against his family's general belief that he must get married to a Pakistani woman. In the meantime Emily contracts a mysterious illness which leads Kumail to face Emily's parents and his inner feelings and question the motives of his true beliefs.The film's genres are comedy, drama and romance but the story is deeper than that. It gets its opening point from the religion and cultural differences, but I find it pretty useless to see the scenes in which an American still asks the Muslim guy about 9/11, or when Kumail is on the stage, someone from the audience yells at him to go back to ISIS. These scenes make the film go towards a different direction than it is meant to, because, from the beginning, the director wants us to believe that this is a romantic comedy, but out of nowhere it dives into political sensitivity and shows scenes like these I have mentioned above. We get the idea that Muslims have a lot of issues after 9/11, but after all those years, still using this as an argument is senseless. After these scenes I ask myself; What is the real point of this film? Is it a romantic comedy or is it just one of the thousand films in which people get to anticipate the problems of Muslims? In my opinion director Michael Showalter tries to create a rhythm but doesn't do a very good job. This is the only weak point of The Big Sick.The film has most of the key points of a romantic comedy and you get to see some dramatic scenes as well. The director manages to combine these genres in harmony but this doesn't mean that The Big Sick doesn't have the clichés of these genres. The background of the film is built on a socially sensitive subject called religion. The main characters have different backgrounds, and in the beginning this barrier seems to be the only reason why they can't be together. Because we understand from the film that Pakistani people are conservative and marry only among themselves. Similar story was issued in the My Big Fat Greek Wedding. There, the groom didn't belong to a different religion but a different sect of Christianism. Here, they not only belong to a completely different religion but also different countries. As a Muslim guy, Kumail has no difference than an American, but his background still has the roots and signs of his home country. When you pay attention to the progression of the film, you see that Kumail questions his religion by asking why a Muslim guy must have a beard for example. The actor who is playing himself as Kumail Nanjiani refuses to practice Islam in his real life. I find his gestures and mimics pretty natural and his natural reactions to the events creates the funny atmosphere of the film. I like the fact that his behaviors are completely natural and because of that I have the feeling that I watch his real life.Kumail's progress as a decent human being is incredibly successful given the fact that his family is religious and doesn't accept anything other than Islam and its rules. As a Muslim guy, I will never understand people who leave their own country because of living conditions and move to a different country in which they use the benefits of that country but refuse to be a part of their society. From their lifestyles to the food they are eating, they still live the life of Pakistan but in much better conditions. They create a closed culture and doesn't let anyone enter. In the mean time when they get sick, they don't hesitate to use health services of that country for example. Even though these are valid points, still it doesn't serve the purpose of a romantic comedy.
magguilmot Despite good reviews it left me cold and three different labels i.e comedy, drama, romance should be a clue as to why. As a comedy, I barely cracked a smile. As a romance, I could not get attached to the characters and their not love/maybe love/forbidden love story. Yeah, it is bad for a romantic comedy. I was so bored after 40 minutes that the drama of the girl getting sick was a relief : at long last something would happen !So 5mn later, enter the parents of the girl and it might get funny. But it just tries to be. It is miss and miss.At this point if you have laughed or empathised with the characters, bought the love story, go on. I for one, tried to stick to it, expecting something good would happened (the critics said so...) and ended very disappointed. Two hours of good comedy/romance/drama are hard to write. The Big Sick reminds us of that and lifts any guilty feeling you may have when you watch your favourites one more time !
PippyMusings I watched The Big Sick about a week ago and thought it wasn't really all that memorable......except for one outstanding thing (and I don't mean 'outstanding' in a good way)......Kumail Nanjiani's acting.I don't write many reviews on IMdB but felt I had to after reading many audience and critics reviews praising this film. For me, it's just 'meh'....and one of the reasons is Nanjiani's poor acting. Nanjiani simply does not have the skill to pull this role off.....and he's playing a version of himself!! I appreciate some of his onscreen moments in which he comes across as naturalistic and unforced. Examples of this are the dinner scenes with his family and scenes with his brother. However, any moment in the script that requires him to express anything other than acting naturally with simplistic reactions or superficial interactions come across as amateurish. I'm not a huge fan of acting with a capital "A", but, as an actor, you have to reach inside and find something...anything...to show an audience. With Nanjiani, there seemed to be nothing there except a furrowed brow to show us he was 'upset', or 'felt guilty'. His dramatic timing was non-exist as well. Scenes that were building towards the emotional climax of the film were not effective because there was just nothing there from him. Examples of scenes a more experienced leading actor could have improved were when Kumail admits to Emily he has never thought about a future with her and when he finally tells his mother about his relationship with Emily. Thankfully there is some powerful acting to be seen with the introduction of Emily's parents, played by Ray Romano and Holly Hunter. These guys are the best thing about this film. Zoe Kazan as Emily is also quite good, despite me actually not really liking the character all that much (which was a problem when you, as an audience member, are meant to sympathise with her when she becomes sick).All in all....the film is a letdown. It's not particularly funny (the stand up routines especially) but it's saving grace is parts of the script (the dichotomy between what Kumail wants for his life and what his parents expect is particularly good) and Romano and Hunter. It is worth watching for these elements alone.
firangipaani I was fairly critical while watching the film because, I am going through the exact same set of events depicted in the plot for the film. To my considerable surprise it was quite relevant. If some over-the-top dramatic scenes required for a feature film to be effective are cornered, this is exactly what happens in our part of the world when you propose a girl to marry you against your parents wishes. The film has a very feel-good vibe to it nevertheless. The story is serious but, the situational comedy is perfect. There are no punch lines or slapstick humor to get you laugh but, the conditions are such that it looks effortless and that the real beauty of this Rom-Com. I believe it is extremely difficult to write your own life story for screen and moreover to relieve it by being the main character in it but, doing stand-up for a living actually helped Kumail in accomplishing this difficult task. The vulnerabilities, insecurities and sensitivities are truly exposed by the writers. At times he feels helpless and at times strong enough to be on his own and face the consequences. All in all, this film will not preach you any life lessons but, you will be candidly amused by the chain of events and smile all the time. And then there is that final lovey-dovey, sugary-sweet happy ending which will make you more elated.