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The Big Sick
Movie:
Video:
Audio:
Extras:
Final Score:
Movie:
Video:
Audio:
Extras:
Final Score:
Have you ever been completely blindsided by a film? You know, completely taken by surprise as the trailer or premise seemed OK, but you never really expected it to be that good. However, when you actually sat down and watched the film you left with this gigantic emotional high that actually flabbergasted you. This was how The Big Sick was to me. I’ve seen Kumail Nanjiani in a few shows and movies over the years (Silicon Valley being my favorite show of his), but was never WILDLY impressed. Again, it’s not like I didn’t like him as a comedian, it’s just that I was never blown away with his characters. So I saw the trailer for The Big Sick and just passed on over it thinking “oh yeah, I’ll take a peak at it when the film hits home video”. I got wind of some very positive reviews from the assortment of film festivals that it hit, but I tend to take those with a grain of salt as film festivals CAN be a bit strange with their compliments. So when I sat down and watched my first viewing of the film I was absolutely blown away. The movie just flowed so organically and fluidly that I was laughing one second, crying the next, and then wiping away happy tears a few minutes later. The movie is based around Kumail Nanjiani’s real life romance with now wife, Emily V. Gordon (who actually co-wrote and produced the film with Kumail), and their rather rough and bumpy ride to happiness. According to my sources there has been some literary licenses taken with incidents and a few things here and there, but overall it’s a rather wry and cute take on a horrible tragedy in their love life that sparked years of devotion.
Much like how many of us live our lives, Kumail (played BY Kumail) is struggling to make his dreams come true. He’s a young Pakistani male living in Chicago, making the bills by working as an uber driver, even though he’s trying to make his life’s ambitions come true as a stand-up comedian. The comedian gigs is going OOOOOOOOOOK, but his life takes a turn for the better when he’s heckled by adorable audience member Emily (Zoe Kazan). Immediately attracted to her, Kumail and her flirt a bit before starting up a slightly reluctant dating relationship as Emily is not exactly LOOKING for a boyfriend. Soon the two are madly in love and spending every moment together. That is until Emily finds out that Kumail’s traditional Pakistani family don’t know anything about her and that they will disown him if Kumail tries to marry a non Pakistani girl.
Right after the breakup, Kumail gets a terrifying call. Emily has fallen gravely ill to a mysterious infection and he needs to see her ASAP. What starts out as a night at the hospital turns into days, and even more days, as the doctors put her into a medically induced coma. To make matters KIND OF worse, Emily’s parents Terry (Ray Romano) and Beth (Holly Hunter) come to stay with their daughter, and they know ALL about the rough breakup. So naturally things are just tense stacked up on a pile of even MORE tenseness. With Emily under a shaky diagnosis, all the walls come crumbling down for both Kumail and Emily’s parents, which creates a unique opportunity for the opposing sides to come together and figure out what’s most important in their lives, and what fat needs to be trimmed for their lives to get back on course.
Kumail and Zoe just really sparkle with the minimal chemistry ridden moments they have together (most of the movie is spend with her in said medically induced coma), but Kumail, Holy Hunter and Ray Romano are simply fantastic together as the slightly weird “odd couple”, so to speak. Their whole relationship is so ridiculously believable and reality based that it just works seamlessly within the story. Nothing seems forced, nothing seems out of place (besides some comedy mishaps with friends), and Kumail’s bittersweet relationship with a pair of struggling Pakistani parents living in America is both chuckle worthy as well as heart breaking.
Rating:
Rated R for language including some sexual references
Video:
Audio:
Extras:
• "The Real Story" Featurette
• 2017 SXSW Film Festival Panel
• Cast & Filmmaker Commentary with Actor-Writer Kumail Nanjiani, Writer Emily V. Gordon, Producer Barry Mendel and Director Michael Showalter
• The Big Sick: The Other Stuff
• Deleted Scenes
• The Bigger Sick: Stick Around for More Laughs
Final Score:
Honestly, The Big Sick is one of the best non blockbuster movies of the year so far. I laughed, I cried (stupid onions, someone was cutting them I swear) and I had warm fuzzies by the end of the movie and I never ONCE thought “wow, this is contrived”. The movie looks and sounds great on Blu-ray, and I have to say that it’s a film that I whole heartedly recommend (as long as you don’t mind a little bit of R-rated language) for those of you who like a great romantic comedy that does NOT fall into the cliches of every other rom com out there. Highly recommended.
Technical Specifications:
Starring: Kumail Nanjiani, Zoe Kazan, Holly Hunter, Ray Romano
Directed by: Michael Showalter
Written by: Emily V. Gordon, Kumail Nanjiani
Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1 AVC
Audio: English DTS-HD MA 5.1, Spanish DD 5.1
Studio: Lionsgate
Rated: R
Runtime: 119 Minutes
Blu-ray Release Date: September 5th, 2017
Recommendation: Great Watch
