I'm yet to find a word rhyming with Stonehenge

★★★ 1/2 out of ★★★★

The Big Sick (2017)

Runtime: 120 minutes

MPAA: Rated R for language including some sexual references.

Kumail (Kumail Nanjiani) spills the beans about dating a white girl to his brother, but his brothers advises him to stop the relationship, because of their culture. As for the rest of the people sitting in the restaurant, don't worry. They hate terrorists.

After a series of disappointing and inconsistent comedies I've watched, The Big Sick is a huge sigh of relief. Co-writer Kumail Nanjiani, who plays himself in this film, takes us into a part of his life - the part where he was struggling to be a stand-up comedian and the part where he met his current wife, Emily V. Gordon, and the various cultures and familial relations he had to break. It is very consistent with laughs but takes a little break towards the last half of the film, to introduce to the viewers his tragedy.

In The Big Sick, Kumail is trying to make a living as a stand-up comic in Chicago, as well as working as an Uber driver for the day. His parents emigrated to the US for a better life while they retain their cultural beliefs. As a result, almost every night during dinner, his mother introduces potential brides for him ultimately concluding in an arranged marriage. However, Kumail doesn't tell them that he does not want to have an arranged marriage but to fall in love and marry the woman he chooses.

Kumail meets Emily Gardner (renamed for some reason and is played by Zoe Kazan), an audience from one of his shows, and starts a relationship that becomes very serious as the months go by. He is forced to lie to his parents and Emily, by not letting her know about the 'arranged marriage' in his culture, and their eventual breakup. It is not until later that his parents find out about his beliefs.

Tragedy strikes. Emily Gardner contracts a mysterious illness, and Kumail signs a paper to put her into a medically induced coma. He meets Emily's parents, Terry and Beth Gardner, from North Carolina. In this time, Kumail navigates in being a comedian, spending time and bonding with Emily's family, dealing with her coma, as well as reconsidering his family's marital decisions and finding out who he is and what he believes.

As a romantic comedy, or rom-com, The Big Sick is successful (now this is a rare compliment from me). There are frequent one-liners, like 'We lost 19 of our best guys', 'But did they look under the train?', 'You sound like Julia Louis-Dreyfus' and so much more. The Big Sick also provides us with hilarious scenes, the two funniest being a scene where Kumail asks for four slices of cheese on a burger and a one-man show where he goes full talk mode and teaches a boring lesson of Pakistan's history. It also carries elements of romance, which is very charming for the film.

Now hold on for a second. I've seen many criticisms from the audience about the comedic jokes getting less abundant towards the last half of the film. My response to this matter is, what is there funny to talk about when a character is in a life-or-death situation? What is there to make this moment of sadness and possibly grief humorous?

I was genuinely surprised by the heartfelt dialogue put into these characters, and the way they develop and bond to each other is exhilarating. Towards the last half of the film, it felt more like a drama than a comedy. Kumail's character almost made me draw tears at his saddest moments, the point where his parents found about his girlfriend and the point where his girlfriend was at the brink of death. His character arc is not only tear-jerking but pleasing. We also get to see him bond to Emily's parents and explore the ups and downs of marriage - arguments between Terry (played by Ray Romano) and Beth (played by Holly Hunter) and how they come in terms of it. I also realised some amateurish camerawork during some scenes, and that felt a little strange. 

From the many reviews I have read of The Big Sick, one critique was that the film went on for too long towards the end. However, my pinpoints with this film have nothing to do with the runtime or pacing - I think it was sweet, and each moment was very important to the story. I feel that The Big Sick forgot to show us a little more about the Pakistani culture, besides the dinners and arranged dates, cricket, and prayers.

The moment the end credits popped up, I felt there was one more missing thing from the film: an explanation or scene that informs us how Kumail ultimately came to terms with his parents. As I finish writing this review, I have thought of a word, revenge, but does it rhyme with Stonehenge? Let me know.

With the efforts of director Michael Showalter, the stellar cast, producers Judd Apatow and Barry Mendel, and the quality writing from Kumail Nanjiani and Emily Gordon, they have produced a refreshing entry to the genre of rom-coms, a compliment that may never be given again in the next few years.