Review of The Big Sick (2017) by Stanley F — 29 Jul 2017

With its well observed and well crafted characters- intelHere's a gentle film that warmsligently cast with a undertow of humour throughout the script- It's not really a RomCom at all - the romance is actually one of the less compelling facets, and it's funny not in terms of belly-laughing gags , but in how humour underpins the humanity, and smoothes the problems within the strained relationships on show.

Kumail and Emily meet at the small Comedy Club where he performs "always the stand-up" and are both happy with a fleeting one-night stand that lingers and morphs into something bigger that changes the basis of thei relationship - so far, so usual - but the family tensions here- Kumail is a Pakistani and the only thing his family ask is that he marries a Pakistani girl - creep in and the false foundations of relaltionship start-up are exposed and there's a bust-up.

Then illness intervenes - Emily is hospitalised, and has to be put into a drug-induced coma, (no they didn't use The Smiths wonderful song at ay point in the film...)and here the film really starts to sing - Kumail is forced into time spent with Emiyl's parents and the development of this relationship is a joy to follow- some great scripting and acting and the film manages to avoid all the usual sentimental traps- we found ourselves really warming to these goofy three-dimensional people who had been thrown together in a hospital waiting area, with all its absurdity, anxiety and boredom.

The time spent in the hospital strains Kumail's relationship with his own family because he misses the set-ups with eligible young Pakistani women that his mum has arranged for him, and the truth he has been hiding from his family arrives to bite him.

You always know it's going to end well, but this film really engaged us and satisfied with its gentle mocking of the lives of the characters whom you really warm to.

We recommend it - just a good film about human beings doing what they do in family situations with a wry smile to our failings and weaknesses.