1. The romance.
This is a romantic comedy. No denying. We have a modern-day meet cute in which Kumail (Kumail Nanjiani) meets a girl named Emily (Zoe Kazan) at his comedy show. She heckles him during a bit, and then afterwards they have a couple drinks and hook up. (It's modern-day because he's an Uber driver and eventually courts her home after the sex... Via uber app, of course). They begin a running gag in which they pledge never to see each other again, but time and again they meet up to watch B-horror movies and sleep together, and from there are planted the seeds of romance.
Nanjiani (who also wrote the screenplay based on his real-life romance with his wife) faces backlash from his Pakistani family over his requirements to marry a Muslim woman. Scene after scene his mother introduces him to women to whom he might betroth... And time and again he returns to Emily. It would be romantic if not for the actors total lack of chemistry. Kazan as Emily is a wild-type blonde who flaunts the screen and commits nothing to character. Nanjiani is the unexpected romantic lead with some solid acting chops but a lack of simple charm that the performance needs. If Kumail and Emily met in real life (as the screenplay suggests), it was not based on this type of romance. It's a completely flat and unemotional romance that blossoms too soon and then ends abruptly when Emily finds out that Kumail hasn't told his parents about her. As we have learned, she's a psychology major. "I'm surprised you aren't taking this better." Kazan overacts in a scene of bizarre emotion and ends the relationship with as much surprise as it began.
2. The setup.
The move is called "The Big Sick" for a reason. Emily contracts a mysterious bacterial infection that leads her to a coma, and since Kumail is her most recent boyfriend, he is called on by friends to sign papers and inform the parents. Here begins the film's most interesting section. Mom (Holly Hunter) and dad (Ray Romano) are called in from North Carolina and they begin the process of not only aiding their dying daughter but also getting to know the ex-boyfriend... Who's Muslim... Who has no promising job. This is comedy gold.
I'll be the first to admit that Hunter and Romano are strange and yet inspired choices for their parts. Hunter is a southern woman more devoted to her daughter's health than her own mental sanity, and Romano is a man just trying to edge by without causing problems. The movie is much more entertaining here, and we wonder what kind of awkward situations they might find themselves in. However, we are met with forced scenes in which Holly gets too drunk and (against character) starts a bar fight with a frat boy at a comedy show, and Ray tells Kumail about a time he had an affair. Wow.
3. The payoff.
Emily eventually recovers and Kumail is shocked to discover she still doesn't want him. He and his comedian buddies pledge a move to New York City in which they hope to jumpstart their careers. Despite the close relationships Kumail formed with her parents, it's clear that all good things must come to and end.
The movie ends happy (it's a true story afterall) but I wasn't left with anything more than an off taste in my mouth. Produced by Judd Apatow, here is yet another of his comedies that runs 30 minutes too long and about 50 jokes past "WE GET IT!" There are genuinely funny parts here, and then there are genuinely ingenuine moments, too. Nanjiani is a talented scriptwriter (along with his wife, Emily), but the movie fails at a prime level for lack of on-screen chemistry and convincing leads. Kazan especially is a woman acting out of her league, giving us a female lead that is both annoying and not missed when she is in a coma.
The Pakistani humor is hilarious, as is Kumail's relationship with his brother, but the film's conclusion sees him banished from the family for dating a white woman and then the resolution is scraped too thin if that. Are we meant to believe that he simply severed ties with his mother and father without so much as a tear shed? Yes, it might be a true story, but where's the cinematic drama? I'm not one to vouch for movie cliches, but when a movie is based on a true story, perhaps now and again a simple cinematic flourish wouldn't hurt. The movie has it's moments, but it sums up as being a "Big Stink."
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