Directed by Michael Showalter

Starring: Kumail Nanjiani, Zoe Kazan, Holly Hunter, Ray Romano, Bo Burnham

The Big Sick is a film I didn't expect to be seeing this year. I usually don't go for the RomCom as so many of them are the same and don't offer anything different. Whilst watching this with no expectations or info other than a brief synopsis of the film I decided to give it a shot after hearing some good things about it. And yeah, it's a good movie. It helps that this film is inspired by true events involving Nanjiani playing a version of himself and Kazan playing a version of his real life partner, the co-writer of the film, Emily V. Gordon. And with that, let's get to the plot.

So Kumail is an aspiring stand up comedian who is struggling with his love life in terms of wanting to be with someone other than who his devout muslim parents are to set him up with in an arranged marriage. He meets a girl, Emily (Kazan) whom he falls in love with to which he keeps hidden from his parents. Unfortunately, Emily becomes sick and is put into a coma, where Kumail meets Emily's parents (Hunter and Romano) and develops a bond with them, and through that forms a bigger attachment to Emily in the process. 

That's the plot without spoiling too much. It's based off a real life story, and it really shows. The Big Sick is original and inspiring and it's something that I think a lot of films in this genre could take a lot from. The first act is good at least, exploring Kumail and Emily's relationship is great and the chemistry between the actors is superb. Nanjiani is an extremely likeable and charismatic lead and delivers many of the funniest moments of the film. Kazan is great too, she's charming and her performance really impacts Kumail and how he acts in the film whilst she is in her coma. Holly Hunter is fantastic in this film and as well as being very funny and very serious all at the same time, her relationship with Kumail is a highlight. Ray Romano is hilarious in the part of Emily's father, offering the funniest dialogue the film gives. 

The second act that develops the relationship between Kumail and Emily's parents is the best, and towards the climax the relationship is really respected and told and gives us something unique to this type of film. There is one scene that threw me in the middle during a scene where the parents attend Kumail's stand up show - which works at first then derails due to some poor writing. That's a minor blunder however as the film wraps up there's some well done writing and set up that is earned by how the previous acts tell the story. 

The direction and style of shooting are to be praised, with some great handheld filming happening during some intense scenes. It's greatly written too, mostly. The film suffers at times with trying to be too funny and adding characters such as Chris into the mix who are just annoying and don't feel like they fit into the story. The final couple of scenes feel all over the place and the film doesn't know when it wants to end, although the final scene excels and wraps the film up rather well.

All in all if you want a feel good comedy/romance movie that delivers something very new, I'd recommend this film. I'll remember this film for sure but due to it's genre and my tastes it's nothing I'll probably view more than once. But I appreciate how different this is in terms of genre conventions and it's talented two leads make this film for me. If you want a character driven feel good film then this is the movie for you this summer. I hope many other filmmakers in this genre take a page out of this one's book. 

7/10