The Big Sick (2017)

Directed by: Michael Showalter | 119 minutes | comedy, romance | 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

Kumail is a stand-up comedian, Emily is studying to be a psychotherapist. The two meet at the comedy club in Chicago where Kumail performs. Sparks fly, the two have an affair, complicated by Kumail’s Pakistani heritage. Kumail’s parents still want to marry off their son according to Pakistani tradition and bring in wagonloads of potential candidates. But then Emily suddenly becomes ill and even slips into a coma.

Sounds like a melodrama? I do not think so. ‘The Big Sick’ is a comedy. From the family of Judd Apatow, director of films such as ‘Knocked Up’ and ‘Funny People’ and producer of series such as ‘Girls’ and ‘Love’. Although directed by Michael Showalter, ‘The Big Sick’ is also a typical Apatow product. This also concerns adults who (like everyone else) have difficulty displaying adult behavior, but who (not like everyone else) are also barely able to behave as adults.

In ‘The Big Sick’ we see a stand-up comedian following an immature dream and a woman who was divorced at a young age. Emily’s parents, visiting their sick daughter, aren’t model adults either. Their relationship is under high stress, and they react like children. The only ones who behave like adults (Kumail’s parents) are people who deny themselves, for whom the rules of tradition outweigh the wishes of the heart.

Also in the Apatow line is the successful dry humor, this time inevitably about Pakistani-American contradictions. Equally recognizable is the nice fluttering theme, which never focuses on one theme, but casually jumps from interracial love to the burdens of parenthood to following a dream to the impact of a dangerous illness. The focus that is missing in the larger story is all the more evident in the individual scenes, something you also see in series like ‘Love’ and ‘Girls’.

‘The Big Sick’ is based on the true history of Kumail Nanjiani, who also plays the lead role. Cute and funny Zoe Kazan plays Emily and Holly Hunter is as irritating as he is bold as Emily’s hippie mom Beth. With which ‘The Big Sick’ meets the high standard of the average Apatow production in all respects. So level ‘Knocked Up’, ‘Bridesmaids’ and ‘Superbad’.