The Big Sick (2017)

Streaming Service: Amazon Prime

Movie Name/Year: The Big Sick (2017)

Genre: Comedy, Drama, Romance

Length: 120 minutes

Rating: R

Production/Distribution: Apatow Productions, FilmNation Entertainment, Story Ink, Amazon Studios, Caramel Films, Cinetopia, Elevation Pictures, Energía Entusiasta, Finnkino, GAGA, Impuls Pictures, Lionsgate, Sabay MVP, Scanbox Entertainment, Shaw Organisation, Spentzos Films, StudioCanal, The Searchers, Thimfilm Filmverleih, Vertigo Média Kft., Weltkino Filmverleih, Youplanet Pictures, Amazon Prime Video, Film & TV House, GEM Entertainment, Gutek Film, Lionsgate, NOS Audiovisuais, StudioCanal, Universal Sony Pictures Home Entertainment Nordic, Universum Film, Weltkino Filmverleih, Yleisradio, Youplanet Pictures

Director: Michael Showalter

Writer: Emily V. Gordon, Kumail Nanjiani

Actors: Kumail Nanjiani, Zoe Kazan, Holly Hunter, Ray Romano, Anupam Kher, Zenobia Shroff, Adeel Akhtar, Bo Burnham, Aidy Bryant, Kurt Braunohler, Vella Lovell, Myra Lucretia Taylor, Jeremy Shamos, David Alan Grier, Ed Herbstman, Shenaz Treasury, Rebecca Naomi Jones, Kuhoo Verma, Mitra Jouhari, Celeste Arias, Shana Solomon

Blurb from IMDb: 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.

Selina’s Point of View:

Back when this came out, it was #14 on my top 20 list. Since then, I’ve heard a lot of good things. Now that I’ve seen it? I definitely think it should have been much higher.

Having dated someone of Gujarati descent when I was younger, I can say that I 100% believe that this film was based in reality. No one got sick in that relationship, but all my interactions with his family and with him ABOUT his family? Oh man, was that part of the script spot on.

Outside of just how honest the entire film felt, it was still funny and romantic. As a rom-com it was refreshingly unique. I am known to say that not all true stories need to be told in a movie form – but this one worked very well.

Kumail Nanjiani (Stuber, Dolittle, Portlandia) and Zoe Kazan (The Kindness of Strangers, The Monster, Max) had enough chemistry that I was rooting for them from the moment they first appeared on screen together. As the story progressed and Ray Romano (Paddleton, Parenthood, Men of a Certain Age) and Holly Hunter (Song to Song, Strange Weather, Breakable You) came into it, I found myself relating to them and feeling the weight of their characters emotions very deeply.

One of the things I like the most, is the humor you see in the Pakistani family. Often in pop culture you see only the severe side of that family dynamic. In The Big Sick we see the family laughing, joking, and teasing each other. It made them so much more relatable. As a result, when things did get more serious, it felt more heartbreaking. Zenobia Shroff (The Affair, When Harry Tries to Marry, Percy) and Anupam Kher (Hotel Mumbai, Aiyaary, Love Sonia) were so comfortable in their parts that they almost seemed to become their characters.

There was very little I disliked about this movie. I only had one minor issue.

I wasn’t overly fond of the ending. Yes, I know that it was based on a true story… but the ending could have cut maybe 5 minutes earlier and felt less long-winded. It wouldn’t have changed what audience took away from the film.

I’d absolutely recommend The Big Sick. It’s not cloyingly sweet, but it’s not overly bitter either. It’s just a great, original, rom-com.

  

Rotten Tomatoes Critic Score – 98%

Rotten Tomatoes Audience Score – 88%

Metascore – 86/100

Metacritic User Score – 7.0/10

IMDB Score – 7.6/10

CinemaScore – None

Trust the Dice: Selina’s Rating – 4.5/5

Trust-the-Dice’s Parental Advisory Rating: PG-13

Movie Trailer: