The Big Sick tells the mostly true life story of Kumal Nanjani and his wife Emily and how they actually met. Kumal is a Pakistani Muslim who came to the United States at 14 years old and hails from a traditional Pakistan family. His life in America has changed him tho and even tho he loves his family, he rejects much of the traditions of his culture- especially the one about arranged marriages.
Kumal is working as a stand up comedian in Chicago where one night he meets Emily, who heckles him from the audience. The couple meets, hooks up, and a relationship blossoms from that point. While they are dating, Kumal's mom is constantly bringing him to Sunday dinner to meet potential Pakistani wives for him to marry. All the while Kumal never tells Emily about this or brings him to meet his family. Kumal knows his family will reject him if he brings home a white girl. This all comes to a head and Kumal and Emily break up.
Shortly after their painful break-up, Emily gets sick and is forced to go into the hospital. Without spoiling too much, Emily's parents, played by Ray Romano and Holly Hunter, come to be with their very ill daughter and deal with Kumal who feels guilty and obligated to stay and help Emily recover.
I saw the trailers for this movie a while back and thought it looked interesting. The title and cover does not tell you much about the movie so I had no real idea what this movie was about. I found it very funny and heartfelt, tho and even tho I reject anything that has to do with Judd Apatow, director Michael Showalter allowed this story to flow in the 2 hours to a great conclusion. It helps that the movie was written by Kumal Nanjiani and allowed his family to be respected and not turned into racist caricatures. I appreciated that and could relate to them in a way that I did not expect.
Overall, a really good movie. Its definitely worth a Redbox rental!
The Producer
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