In the early 1990’s if you were a comedian on the rise, you were given a TV show to cultivate, Jerry Seinfeld being the best example. It appears the 2010s are using the same model, with the rise of the internet. Kumail Nanjiani must have had plenty of options from various service providers: Netflix, ABC, FX, etc to tell his meet cute story with his wife. Nanjiani opted for the big screen, having already dominated Netflix and HBO, and The Big Sick makes it 3 for 3 for the talented Pakistani comedian. Medium doesn’t matter to Nanjiani: the guy will exude talent, regardless of medium.
Nanjiani reaches to play a guy named Kumail in The Big Sick, a comedian working in Chicago. Kumail was in a professional rut when he meets Emily (Zoe Kazan), a fan whom he instantly connects with. However, Kumail’s Pakistani family life, Emily’s past relationships, and Kumail’s career all threaten the budding romance. Just as things reach their breaking point, Emily (this is true) falls into a coma. With Emily’s parents Beth (Holly Hunter) and Terry (Ray Romano) arriving to take care of his potential soul mate, Kumail must decide how in he really is in the relationship.
The Big Sick touches on many interesting subjects: interracial dating, external influences on relationships, and time’s relationship to emotional development, etc. The real life couple, who wrote this story, uses the best device to win everyone: find ubiquity through specificity. It might seem counter intuitive, but let me offer this example: Kumail’s mom amusingly invites suitors for Nanjiani to dinner every Friday night. Nanjiani humors her mom, but stores all the pictures of these lovely women in a box on his cabinet. Emily’s past relationship involved someone who wouldn’t let go of their past customs, and justifiably freaks out at Kumail. Kumail is then prompted to introduce Emily to his brother, but brother gossips to Kumail’s mom, who threatens to disown him because he’s breaking generational family customs. This particular situation might have happened to a few people, but it helps shine a light on just how tricky navigating a mixed cultural and racial relationship would actually be: ubiquity through specificity.
The Big Sick in general navigates several possible pitfalls to become as winning and enjoyable as it does. The introductory courtship and family dynamics avoid sitcommy pratfalls and slapstic to tell a genuine story about a guy falling in love and struggling due to outside forces. The trickiest part had to be how to deal with the coma. Too humorous and it derails the emotional honesty, too maudlin and Nanjiani’s fans would be rolling their eyes. With minor exceptions, the script navigates the minefield admirably, especially with how Emily deals with Kumail when out of her coma. This clear understanding of the couple’s insight into the movie characters and story could only come from deep personal experiences which clearly mean something to the lovebirds, and these feelings infuse The Big Sick with something real, giving it more oomph than a generic Hollywood screenplay.
Nanjiani and Zoe Kazan are pretty great in The Big Sick. Nanjiani makes sense, since he lived this screenplay, but Kazan lights up the screen when she’s on it, and her absence is felt in the 2nd half of the movie when she’s not there, a testament to the actress. Holly Hunter is probably the best talent in the cast, and she gives Beth a combination of iron will that is barely being held together. Romano is the biggest gamble, and therefore, biggest surprise. The comedian is basically playing his Everybody Loves Raymond character, a likable schlub who is in over his head with his family. Romano captures Terry’s sorrow but optimism in equal measure, easily wanting us to root for the guy despite his obvious flaws.
The Big Sick is just a well crafted film. The story is pretty inspiring, and the writers are heavily invested in how it turns out because it actually happened to them. The movie also uses a combination of well respected actors, up and coming comedians, and surprising comedians turned thespians. Where do all these people converge to tell a cool story like this? Chicago of course! My city, the city where amazing things happen!