Review for The Big Sick

The Big Sick tells the story of Kumail (Playing himself based on his real-life) who is an Uber Driver by day and aspiring stand-up comedian. After a show he meets Emily and they embark on a relationship. However, Kumail’s parents are desperate to match him up with a woman from their religion, something which he does not want. When Emily finds out about his family’s prejudices she leaves Kumail.

Emily then gets hospitalised with a mysterious infection that has forced her to be placed into a coma. Kumail attends the hospital and there meets Emily’s parents who have a frosty relationship together and at first blame Kumail for Emily’s situation. Over the days, the three bond and they all open up about their lives waiting for Emily to recover.

I loved this film. I though I was going to hate this film and it would be nothing more than a sickly sweet romantic comedy and the fact it was produced by Judd Apatow filled me with dread. However, I was pleasantly surprised by this film and reminded of the Adam Sandler film Funny People which was also created by Apatow. The elements of stand-up comedy are fantastic throughout and having seen Kumail on other things he is genuinely a funny person and a joy to watch. His relationship with all the characters is perfect and the scenes with his family remind me of the British film East is East.

One of the most remarkable things about this film are the performances of Ray Romano and Holly Hunter as Emily’s parents. It is so odd watching Romano in this type of role after years of seeing him on Everybody Loves Raymond and yet after years of playing a great dad on that show this seemed like the type of role he should have been always doing.

Overall I thought this film was hugely enjoyable, my only gripe is that it did feel a little too long and a lot of the slower moments could have been cut without affecting the flow of film, possibly making it a more enjoyable film. However, I really enjoyed every aspect and found the mix of drama an comedy a perfect mix.

The disk comes with a vast amount of extras that really surprised me. The commentary by Actor/Writer Kumail Nanjiani, Writer Emily V. Gordon, Producer Barry Mendel and Director Michael Showalter is fantastic and I really enjoyed listening to them talk about the making of this film. This is the same for all the interviews that appear in the extras as this is clearly a film that created with love and care. They include the 2017 SXSW Film Festival Panel with Kumail Nanjiani, Emily V. Gordon and Producers Judd Apatow and Barry Mendel which is a Q&A after screening which is great to see and wonderful accompaniment.

The Other Stuff and Deleted Scenes are more or less the same thing with a look at some of the scenes and jokes that didn’t make the final cut. Both are great, but the Deleted Scenes are nothing that would be missed from the film itself.

A Personal Journey: The Making of The Big Sick is a great look at how the film came to be and certainly shows how everyone involved really enjoyed making the film and it looked like it was to make.

The most enjoyable feature was the The Bigger Sick: Stick Around for More Laughs which features some amazing stand up performances and I do wish this had been its own full length feature in itself as it had some hilarious moments. I have never seen Kumail as a stand-up having only seen him in Films and Television, but I will be seeking out more of his work.

The Big Sick is a wonderful film. It skates the edges of being too sickly sweet, but manages to bring itself back into the comedy that makes it feel warm and enjoyable. If you like films like When Harry Met Sally… or Notting Hill then you will love the mix of characters and laughs that come with a great story that will make you smile. There is nothing Big Sick about this film which is a true gem of this year.