Director: Michael Showalter
Cast: Kumail Nanjiani, Zoe Kazan, Holly Hunter, Ray Romano, Adeel Akhtar, Anupam Kher
Screenplay: Emily V. Gordon, Kumail Nanjiani
120 mins. Rated R for language including some sexual references.
The Big Sick opens in several markets tomorrow, and I was lucky enough to catch an early viewing of the film. What did I think? It just might be the best film of the year.
Kumail (Kumail Nanjiani, TV’s Silicon Valley, Fist Fight) is a struggling comic living in Chicago when he meets Emily (Zoe Kazan, Ruby Sparks, Our Brand is Crisis). The two build a romance, but Kumail’s Pakistani family are regularly setting Kumail up with other women in an attempt to force an arranged marriage. It forces Kumail and Emily into a breaking point, but when Emily ends up in the hospital sick with something the doctors cannot diagnose, Kumail takes up residence at her side while creating conflict with Emily’s parents, Beth (Holly Hunter, The Incredibles, Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice) and Terry (Ray Romano, TV’s Everybody Loves Raymond, Ice Age: Collision Course).
The Big Sick is a touching, beautiful, and very funny look at the goings on of an American relationship, the central focus of the film being adapted from Emily V. Gordon and Kumail Nanjiani’s actual courtship. It holds actual emotional resonance and is capably handled by Michael Showalter (Hello, My Name is Doris, The Baxter).
I think the biggest win for The Big Sick, apart from its excellent screenplay, come from its performers. This is a standout performance for Nanjiani, but Hunter and Romano are excellent as the awkward and impersonal Beth and Terry. This should be a year of nominations for both.
The third act does run on a bit longer than it needs, but The Big Sick is an excellent character piece. I fell in love with these characters and I can’t wait to see this film over and over again, and I think you’ll agree. This film has become my favorite film in 2017 (sorry Okja).
4.5/5
-Kyle A. Goethe
GOAT Film Reviews 