Based on Kumail Nanjiani’s own life, The Big Sick tells the story of how Kumail (playing himself) met his future wife Emily (played by Zoe Kazan). The story starts off with how they met, followed by the dating section as the two form a strong romantic bond. Yet Kumail must hide their relationship from his strict parents (particularly his Mother), who believe Kumail must marry a fellow Pakistani Muslim—his mother constantly trying to set up arranged marriages—and would disown him otherwise. Kumail hides this fact from Emily, who eventually finds out and breaks up with him after Kumail shows hesitancy towards their future. The two go their separate ways until Kumail gets a call from Emily’s friend informing him that Emily’s been taken to the hospital. It’s discovered that Emily has a severe lung infection and is placed into a medically-induced coma. Kumail informs Emily’s parents Beth (Holly Hunter) and Terry (Ray Romano), who fly to Chicago to be with their daughter.
MAJOR SPOILERS FROM THIS POINT ONWARD:
While focusing on an interracial relationship between two vastly different family cultures is a key difference between The Big Sick and the usual Judd Apatow-produced comedies, it’s the handling of said story and the direction it takes that distinguishes the film as Kumail and Emily’s (who worked together on the script) own unique story. An actual couple co-writing their own relationship appears to have its perks, as their growing bond has natural energy and chemistry throughout the sweet, funny and dramatic moments. The Big Sick is one of the few romances where the onesided male focus can be excused considering the female is in a coma for a good chunk of the film. It’s the pair’s well-written relationship that initially drew me into the story and gives their unfortunate, yet inevitable breakup scene extra emotional potency (in addition to being impressively acted).
It’s then that the film gets to its title “Big Sick” section, and boy does the quality spike upwards. The Big Sick’s middle section is where the film truly separates itself from the expected norm of romantic comedy-dramas and truly grabbed my attention. The manner Kumail is introduced to Emily’s parents, how he gets to bond with them, and how the comedy and/or drama work so beautifully well during this section deserves nothing but praise. It starts off with these adorably awkward scenes between Kumail and the parents waiting to hear results about Emily. Kumail is clearly, and understandably, uncomfortable being around his ex-girlfriend’s parents (especially since they know everything about the breakup), and tries breaking the ice with some poorly thought-out banter about how Emily’s in a good coma; “There are apparently good comas and bad comas…there are good Gremlins and bad Gremlins.” These initial scenes are refreshing and humorous, but the film doesn’t stop there—continuing into scene after scene of great comedy as the trio are essentially forced to bond as they wait for further information.
There’s a scene in the hospital cafeteria that is absolutely brilliant; I love how the scene firmly establishes the parents’s personalities: Beth is a strong-willed woman who speaks her mind and wears her heart on her sleeve. She has zero qualms showing her contempt towards Kumail breaking Emily’s heart, and responds to his comments in a humorously blunt manner;
Kumail: How’s the sandwich?
Beth: (Pissed Off) Best f@#%ing sandwich I’ve ever ate!
Terry, by contrast, is softer and more passive than his wife. He shows no contempt towards Kumail and (in an incredibly sweet gesture) beckons for him to join them when Kumail goes to sit alone in the cafeteria. Terry, however, is just as awkward (if not more) with conversation as Kumail, and, in a desperate effort to break the tension, brings up 9/11 as a conversation starter—resulting in a mutually uncomfortable yet absolutely sidesplitting conversation between the two as Terry tries making an excuse for the obvious reasoning behind bringing up 9/11 while Kumail makes a black comedy joke that goes completely over both parents’s heads.
It becomes clear that the film’s core relationship isn’t between Kumail and Emily, or Kumail and his parents, but between Kumail and Emily’s parents. Yet the film handles it so innovatively different from what you’d usually see with the Meet the Parents type of stories—such as the love interest being in a life-threatening coma, Kumail getting satisfactory development with both parents, and the development being a consistently growing bond between them that doesn’t crack midway from some cliché big fight/reveal sequence. There are so many great moments—both big and small—between these three: Terry trying to discuss “back in his day” games with Kumail, Beth actively defending Kumail when a bigoted asshole heckler interrupts his stand up routine, Kumail staying up late with Beth to drink wine and look at gothic high school photos of Emily, Terry sleeping over at Kumail’s place, etc.
It’s a brilliant way of telling the story as it not only allows Kumail to bond with each parent, and for the parents to strengthen their own strained relationship with each other, but also for the trio to individually grow as characters. There are great scenes of drama—such as when Kumail and Beth help calm each other down over Emily’s state—and great scenes of comedy—such as Terry telling a clearly uncomfortable Kumail about having an affair (where he knew he screwed up from a “moment of clarity after orgasm.”) and then proceeds, in vain, to give Kumail advice about love; “You don’t know you truly love someone until you’ve cheated on them….that’s why they call it love.” It brings The Big Sick to a whole new level of storytelling by having such a terrible event bring these three together and develop them into better characters, with the punchline being Emily's obliviousness to such events when she finally wakes up—still being mad and uninterested in Kumail despite her parents now treating him alike to a beloved son-in-law (and vice versa).
Similar to its beginning, The Big Sick’s finale is sweet, funny, and predictable—following the expected romance comedy-drama tropes. It didn’t bother me, however, because the film’s middle portion so thoroughly invests the viewer in its story and characters that I'm just satisfied to see the main cast receive happy endings. The Big Sick is a very effective film with really good comedy, really good drama (which should especially be noted as drama is often overlooked in comedies) and several really good performances. It’s a charming, delightful, innovative romance comedy-drama with some downright brilliant scenes and a fantastically executed middle section.
