The Big Sick (2017)
Directed by Michael Showalter
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.
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31 films that influenced The Big Sick
What critics say influenced The Big Sick
“The Big Sick” plays like a feature-length prelude to what could have been “My Big Fat Pakistani Wedding,” but without the vital and vigorous vulgarity of Nia Vardalos’s “My Big Fat Greek Wedding,” and with, instead, the sophistication and good taste apt for more educated viewers seeking indie-brand movies.
Nanjiani’s relationship with his fellow comedians (Aidy Bryant and Kurt Braunohler) brings to mind the group dynamics of Mike Birbiglia’s Don’t Think Twice, whereas his conflicts with his Pakistani family play like a less zany version of My Big Fat Greek Wedding.
Of course, they've been a part of movies almost forever, from "The Jazz Singer" to "My Big Fat Greek Wedding."
And there's something reminiscent of Knocked Up, albeit with darker circumstances, in how its male lead finds himself skipping right into the deep end of a relationship courtesy of an unexpected event.
You would have to dig back to movies like “Knocked Up,” or prehistoric relics like “The Graduate” to find romcoms that sent audiences home thinking they had just seen a movie that was funny and tender and true.
Not since the one-two punch of Knocked Up and Superbad has the Apatow formula paid greater dividends.
This is a feature of Apatow’s films (Knocked Up, This is 40), which are unfailingly honest about the ups and downs of marriage.
Director Michael Showalter (“Hello, My Name is Doris”), with an assist from producer Judd Apatow (“Knocked Up”) doesn’t exploit this; instead he portrays the families with depth and dimension.
It’s a glossier, more Hollywood affair, but The Big Sick does also reference the rough-and-ready, equally lovable British comedy East Is East (1999).
The subject matter mines the same territory as 2015’s home movie/documentary Meet The Patels, moving the immigrant family up from Gujarat to Muslim Pakistan.
The latter bit will come as no surprise to those who saw the crowd-pleasing documentary “Meet the Patels,” which similarly addressed the informal, family-driven dating services that often thrive in immigrant communities.
On the surface, there are a number of similarities to another film I loved, Meet the Patels .
The resulting movie, directed by Michael Showalter ("Hello My Name Is Doris"), hilariously explores the cultural obstacles presented not only by Nanjiani's family, who seem lifted from the "Meet the Patels" documentary, but Kumail's awkward bonding process with Emily's parents Beth and Terry Gardner (Holly Hunter and Ray Romano).
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Nanjiani’s relationship with his fellow comedians (Aidy Bryant and Kurt Braunohler) brings to mind the group dynamics of Mike Birbiglia’s Don’t Think Twice, whereas his conflicts with his Pakistani family play like a less zany version of My Big Fat Greek Wedding.
Aziz Ansari milks perceptive humor out of a similar identity crisis in “Masters of None,” and Kumail’s story also mines warm communal vibes and caustic humor specific to the standup scene that Mike Birbiglia probed in “Don’t Think Twice.”
Meanwhile, his stand-up career takes off, and Apatow lovingly captures the behind-the-scenes world of stand-up life in a way that recalls Mike Birbiglia ’s “Don’t Think Twice.”
The girlfriend-in-a-coma theme is a familiar one, but unlike Pedro Almodóvar’s rhapsodic dramatic comedy Talk to Her , the medical crisis here is harrowing.
But first—in a vague echo of the quasi-classic comedy “While You Were Sleeping”—Emily will be put in a medically induced coma so her infection can be treated.
Like a weird, wonderful cross between “Amour” and “While You Were Sleeping,” this alternately hilarious and wrenching portrayal of commitment threads a whisper-thin needle between candor and cathartic laughs, gliding from grim hospital vigils one minute and into antic screwball family dynamics the next.
For Emily, it’s The Abominable Dr. Phibes.
Those who know the joys of Nanjiani and Gordon will be satisfied, as they’ve channeled their enviable and geeky romance into a quirky love story that folds in The X-Files, Night of the Living Dead and The Abominable Dr. Phibes.
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Certainly, there is nothing here to match the crisp definition of Bill Murray and Scarlett Johansson, who, in “Lost in Translation” (2003), stood out so clearly, and with such a funky need for one another, against the jet-lagged atmosphere.
It’s a story in a classic genre, that of the first talking picture, “The Jazz Singer,” from 1927—the son of a traditional immigrant family who defies his parents’ orders, follows his own path in life, and is ostracized from the family and the community alike.
Of course, they've been a part of movies almost forever, from "The Jazz Singer" to "My Big Fat Greek Wedding."