The Big Sick
(2017)
(SPOILERS) The Big
Sick wasn’t the big hit many expected. Tipped as a summer sleeper, it
merely performed respectably (on a low budget, so that was okay). But then,
with a title suggesting the worst excesses of now passé gross-out comedy, what
did Amazon and Lionsgate (who picked it up following Sundance) expect? It isn’t
that at all – by which I mean, vomit-related – of course, and is in fact a rather sweet
culture-clash comedy with a you-couldn’t make it up coma thrown in – the actual
big sick – based on the experiences of
comedian Kumail Nanjiani in dating his wife to be (Emily V Gordon).
When I say it’s sweet, though, I mean The Big Sick’s inoffensive (even when dealing with racism aimed at
Kumail, playing himself), and amiable, likeable and unassuming. It entirely
reflects Nanjiani’s personality, basically, which doesn’t make for the most
vital or responsive viewing experience. Nanjiani is dating Emily (Zoe Kazan),
but they break up when she discovers he hasn’t told his unreceptive family he’s
dating a white girl, and that he can’t see a long-term prospect for them for
this reason. Despite this, when she becomes seriously ill a few weeks later
(eventually diagnosed as a complication resulting from Still’s Disease), he
ends up signing the permission form to induce a coma and it’s at the hospital
that he meets her parents Beth (Holly Hunter) and Terry (Ray Romano). As a consequence,
much of the movie doesn’t even feature Kazan, revolving instead around the
growing bond through trauma between those closest to her.
On that level, the movie works; the setup is sufficiently
different that you’re intrigued to see how this unfolds, and Hunter and Romano
make for an effective chalk-and-cheese pairing, she fiery and outspoken, he weary
and reserved. Where the movie stumbles is in averring to the Judd Apatow
formula, minus his trademark gross-out – he’s a producer, although how he finds
the time between self-righteous tweets is beyond me – right down to an
unnecessarily excessive running time (two hours is not the ideal for a comedy, but his pictures are often well over
that limit).
Apatow frequently favours the autobiographical, something
that has rarely paid dividends creatively – Funny
People, This is 40 – inevitably involving
depicting comedians as comedians, which again, unless you’re Jerry Seinfeld,
isn’t always such a good idea, nursing the danger of coming across as hubristic
(it may work for Stephen King or – once upon a time, when he was both acting in
his pictures and less controversial – Woody Allen to give their protagonists
the skillset they have, but it can be overly inclusive and off-putting to an
audience, as if everything revolves around them. As such, the stand-up element
of The Big Sick is merely okay.
Nanjiani is a reactive personality, which suits the story,
but in terms of range he isn’t so effective when called upon to emote (for
example, becoming enraged at the burger joint, or pleading with Emily’s parents
not to move her to another hospital). That’s fine – a lot of comedians aren’t –
but it does mean that the romance side is also very low key. The interactions
with his family, though, while familiar from other wry depictions of
traditional Muslim parenting, consistently spark thanks to the performances of
Anupam Kher (as his father Azmat), Zenobia Shroff (mother Sharmeen) and Adeel
Akhtar (brother Naveed).
Hunter scores for a scene where she launches into a racist
heckler, as Nanjiani attempts to carry on with his act regardless, while
Romano’s deadpan (“If you feel a coma
coming on, just call us”) has an authenticity that Nanjiani, peppering his dialogue
with “bits” doesn’t quite grasp yet. Kazan’s very likeable, when she’s actually
conscious. But that’s The Big Sick.
It’s likeable, good-natured and pleasant, but nothing more than that. You
wouldn’t instantly deduce it as a contender for Best Original Screenplay Oscar.
Agree? Disagree? Mildly or vehemently? Let me know in the comments below.