Rom-com bursting with both heart and brains
The Big Sick
(out of 4) Starring Kumail Nanjiani, Zoe Kazan, Holly Hunter, Ray Romano, Anupam Kher and Zenobia Shroff. Directed by Michael Showalter. Opens Friday at GTA theatres. 119 minutes. 14A Romantic comedies generally insist that love breaks down into three predictable sections: meet cute, humorous complications and happy ending.
Michael Showalter’s The Big Sick is blessedly not like that. Hilarious and heartbreaking with no clear trajectory, frequently catching viewers off guard, it’s a rom-com of both heart and brain about a couple tested by illness and clashing cultures.
In its generous view of a diverse world, the film also serves as a raised digit to Donald Trump’s Islamophobia, even though it wasn’t strictly intended as a political statement and premiered at Sundance last January just prior to Trump’s inauguration as U.S. president.
The movie is more than a little complicated, in other words, which makes it a lot like real life. Actor/ writer Kumail Nanjiani (TV’s Silicon Valley) co-wrote it with his screenwriter wife, Emily V. Gordon, basing it in part on their real experiences as a couple, adding a few dramatic flourishes to situations and characters.
Nanjiani essentially plays himself in the role of Kumail, a Chicago standup comic (and a part-time Uber driver) who can charm a room even when trying out risky jokes about terrorism.
He’s striving to live in the 21st century while also respecting the traditions of his strict family, immigrants from Pakistan, who expect to choose an appropriate bride for him. They did it for his older brother Naveed (Adeel Akhtar), who is happily married, so why shouldn’t they do it for Kumail?
No dinner at home is complete without a “surprise” visit from a young Muslim woman selected by his loving parents Azmat and Shar- meen (Anupam Kher and Zenobia Shroff ).
Kumail, who professes to not be ready for a romantic commitment, has another problem: he’s in love with and also stressed out by his nonMuslim girlfriend Emily ( The F Word’s Zoe Kazan), whom he met when she jokingly heckled his nightclub act. Flirting ensued, followed by wooing.
Kumail is reluctant to introduce Emily to his family, given their passive-aggressive ways. Emily, who is studying for a master’s in psychology and who also claims to be commitment-averse, objects to being treated as a guilty secret. Can this love survive?
Things progress the way most romcoms do until about the 40-minute mark, when Emily contracts a lifethreatening illness that requires she be hospitalized and placed in an induced coma.
An already rocky relationship now faces impending tragedy. Kumail must deal not only with Emily’s fraught condition but also the demands of her very opinionated parents, played by Holly Hunter and Ray Romano. It’s here where the movie’s strength, and that of director Showalter ( Hello, My Name Is Doris), really come to the fore. The caretaking in setting up characters early on pays dividends in the awkward situation later where half of the central couple is effectively removed from the picture.
Nanjiani and Kazan are superb as the imperiled couple, but the supporting characters are all much stronger than the cardboard figures of glee seen in most rom-coms. This includes the prospective brides chosen by Kumail’s parents, who come across as real human beings and not just a mirthful montage (Vella Lovell’s Khadija is particularly good).
The movie is very nearly stolen by Hunter and Romano, who deliver their best performances in years as Emily’s parents, Beth and Terry. A bickering pair to begin with, they’re troubled by Kumail’s presence in the hospital room. They feel protective about Emily and they’re also as conflicted as Azmat and Sharmeen about interracial romance.
But there’s nothing like getting to know people in a time of crisis to realize what’s really important in life. Hunter has a ready-made moment for Best Supporting Actress Oscar consideration in a comedy-club scene where she confronts a racist frat boy who is taunting Kumail.
More than this you probably don’t want to know in advance, except for this: Go and see this movie.