Initially, it seems as though director Michael Showalter’s The Big Sick is shaping up to be a charming but standard “clash of cultures” romantic comedy. Pakistani–American stand-up comedian Kumail (Kumail Nanjiani) and white psychology student Emily (Zoe Kazan) are snarky thirtysomething Chicagoans who stumble into a cozy relationship without making a conscious decision to do so. Unfortunately, the bliss doesn’t last. Emily makes a tearful exit when she discovers that Kumail has not only concealed their relationship from his parents, but has also continued to indulge his mother Sharmeen’s (Zenobia Shroff) efforts to match him with various single Pakistani women.
At this point, The Big Sick swerves from angst into potential tragedy. Summoned to a hospital one night shortly after their split, Kumail discovers that Emily has contracted a life-threatening infection and has accordingly been placed into a medically induced coma. Her parents, Beth (Holly Hunter) and Terry (Ray Romano), soon arrive to take charge of the situation, but Kumail finds that he is incapable of leaving Emily’s side, the chilly reception from her family notwithstanding.
Showalter’s direction is a little shaggy but serviceable, which suits the material just fine. The film’s real auteurs are Nanjiani and real-life wife Emily V. Gordon, whose screenplay is based on their own love story. Obviously, that story ended happily, but what makes the film smarter and sadder than the typical romantic comedy is its refusal to indulge in the genre’s more ersatz clichés. The script is fittingly tailored to Nanjiani’s deadpan, earnestly dorky style. His character’s simultaneous loyalty to and exasperation with traditional Pakistani Muslim culture is a significant aspect of the story. More broadly, however, The Big Sick is an insightful, unpretentious depiction of how sheer inertia can be both a positive and negative factor in relationships and in life, in general.
Opens Friday, July 7 in limited release.
