Checked out the new romantic comedy The Big Sick. Stand-up comedian / actor Kumail Nanjiani (the Pakistani guy from HBO”s Silicon Valley) stars as himself in a mostly true retelling of how he started dating a white woman, breaks up with her, and then she winds up in a medically-induced coma with only him to watch her. He contacts her parents (played by Ray Romano and Holly Hunter) and they awkwardly meet at the hospital and awkwardness ensues.
This is a good, charming movie that runs a little long (it’s about 2 hours) but I can’t argue that, if this is how things went down, then it’s as long as it needs to be It’s as much about the romance as it is about the relationship he forms with her parents and the ethnic conflict between the families. Kumail was born in Pakistan but moved with his parents to the US as a kid and is pretty much completely Americanized. This creates fun and touching conflicts with his parents who want set up an arranged marriage with a Pakistani girl. It’s not my experience but I like how the movie handles the conflict of cultures.
This is a funny and sweet romantic comedy… though I’m not sure “romantic comedy” is the right classification since it’s actually more about the lead and his girlfriend’s parents. Regardless though, I’d recommend this movie even it feels a little long.
Score: 83