The Big Sick movie review

By: A. Nogueira

​Title: The Big Sick
Release date: July 14th, 2017
Director: Michael Showalter
Main cast: Kumail Nanjiani and Zoe Kazan
Budget: 5 million USD
Box office: 53.5 million USD
Rotten tomatoes rating: 98%
Google film synopsis:
Kumail is a Pakistani comic who meets an American graduate student named Emily at one of his stand-up shows. As their relationship blossoms, he soon becomes worried about what his traditional Muslim parents will think of her. When Emily suddenly comes down with an illness that leaves her in a coma, Kumail finds himself developing a bond with her deeply concerned mother and father.
Rating: 8.5/10

The Big Sick is a 2017 autobiographical drama and romantic comedy. It was written by Kumail Nanjiani and his wife Emily V. Gordon. Kumail surprisingly plays himself (the protagonist) and delivers an excellent performance for his first movie. The film is also incredibly well written. Before writing the movie, Kumail has solely worked with stand up comedy and Acting in TV series while Emily has limited experience as a writer and producer, yet the script never fails to deliver.

The film surprises with originality, its realism yet unusual happenings keep the audience engaged from start to finish. Cinematography allows everything to feel personal and natural, as the audience is invited, through the characters, to participate within the story. Similarly, the soundtrack was written by Michael Andrews specifically for the movie, developing on the personal effect of The Big Sick. Finally, Showalter’s engaging direction allows the romantic comedy to escape any genre cliches and resort to a deeper drama and humour. Thus, the production of The Big Sick is one of its primary highlights, composing one of the best movies of the year combined with its excellent plot.