Film Review
"THIS NEW TYPE OF LOVE"
I have a list of movies and television shows I want to watch. Some have been recommended, and some I have chosen because they have actors in them I like. Romantic comedies have been around a while and there aren’t many classics I haven’t seen so when I read the reviews that this movie was the one for my generation I added it to my list. When I watched the trailer for the first time I wrote down the release date, something I only do when I’m anticipating that date. Another usual routine of mine is to insist my parents go to the cinema by themselves, give them time to pretend it’s just the two of them for a while. But when they asked if I wanted to see this movie on this date, I said yes. I said watch this interview of the people who wrote the movie. I said read this magazine article and that one and those too. I said could we go to the earlier session?
I couldn’t wait to cross it off my list.
It was a passion product. The love child of two intelligent, funny people who sat down and wrote their story months after it had started; worried they would never see anything like it. Kumail Nanjiani and Emily V. Gordon came together, were torn apart and then haphazardly sewed themselves back together in real life and in the Amazon Studios/Lionsgate romantic comedy The Big Sick.
Its heart-heavy, era-defining story conveys the realism of struggling Chicago comedian Kumail (played by the Silicon Valley actor himself), a member of a traditional Pakistani Muslim family, entering into a relationship he is skeptical will last. Similar to Nanjiani’s other work, the laughter is free-flowing and the awkwardness only add value where we didn’t realise there was a lack.
Above the film hangs the Apatow Production’s banner, famously known for their contributions to box office hits Anchorman and Superbad. But among these big names are the even more successful Bridesmaids and Trainwreck, two romance-based films of which Apatow recognised a similar potential in The Big Sick. In its first week of release after debuting at Sundance it began generating Oscar buzz, tipped to take Best Original Screenplay on the night. Amazon understood the Gordon/Nanjiani collaboration and snatched up the distribution rights for $12 million, one of the festival’s most expensive deals in history.
Though set in the early 2000s, The Big Sick incorporates recent developments – such as Uber – whilst maintaining the age-old tale of boy meets girl. Nanjiani is the son of immigrant parents (played by evocative pairing Anupam Kher and Zenobia Shroff) whose intentions for him are clear, however the meaning behind them is murkier. He is to marry one of their chosen “drop by” women and to be grateful he lives in a country where he is free to be himself – so long as he is their version of himself. They do, to their credit, allow his career of stand-up, mildly supplementing their support with suggestions of studying for the MCAT.
The prevalent ‘B’ story of Kumail’s relationship with his parents reminds audiences of something not exclusive to migrant families but is more evident when cultures clash: the conflict between first and second generations. It’s trying to find yourself in a world where ancestors have planted deep roots tying you down.
The film has similar elements of the Apatow directed Trainwreck, the tonal balance of comedy and the darker tragedy. Also, present in both is the fresh dynamic of employing improvisation, allowing actors the chance to breathe the characters they know (as with Nanjiani) or have become (Zoe Kazan who plays Gordon’s counterpart). The technique of filming what is scripted then following that with improvised lines is not new to television. It’s effectiveness evident in comedies such as "Parks and Recreation" and the American version of "The Office" but has only recently been adopted by film.
Moreover, it’s not just the comical mumbled comments where improvised moments soar over scripted; it’s also the drama. One of the later scenes where Nanjiani essentially breaks down atop his stage is filled with passion and raw emotion and highlights the truth to this real-life experience. It was hard, it sucked sometimes, but god did it give him everything he wanted. It’s kind of like seeing this movie. You don’t know how badly you want it until it’s over and you miss Ray Romano asking misguided questions about 9/11.
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Image credit: "The Big Sick" 2017. Directed by Michael Showalter