Not really though. Films rarely ever claim to be 100% true. If nothing else, no one actually remembers word for word conversations they had and events never organize themselves as cinematically as a film requires. The discussion ends up being about how well the fictionalized story reflects the honesty of the actual events. And there's a lot more that can be said about that.
The Big Sick is, as I've mentioned, based on the true story of comedian Kumail Nanjiani and his wife, Emily V. Gordon. I'm pretty familiar with those two already between seeing them on Comedy Central's The Meltdown with Jonah and Kumail and them popping up on all sorts of podcasts I've listened to. So, I'm not sure if my perspective on the movie will be the same as someone who maybe only recognizes Nanjiani from Silicon Valley or not at all. That won't be a limiting factor for anyone though. The film tells the story of how Kumail and Emily met, broke up, and got back together. Nanjiani plays himself in the film and Gordon is played by Zoe Kazan*. They meet while Kumail is still an aspiring stand-up looking for his big break and they hit it off immediately. Kumail keeps her distanced though, because he's hiding her from his traditional Pakistani family. His family, his mother in particular, wants him to agree to an arranged marriage. If Kumail doesn't follow through with this, there is a good chance he will be excommunicated from his family. Emily learns of this in a non-ideal way and they break up. Soon after, Emily gets sick and Kumail is pulled back into her life. She goes into a coma. He then bonds with her parents (Holly Hunter and Ray Romano). All the while, he's still trying to keep his comedy career moving forward and figure out how to be honest with his own family. The trailers cover about this much of the story, so I'm not considering any of this a spoiler.
*The real Emily is not an actress and didn't want to play herself anyway, so don't get upset that they cast a pretty Hollywood actress to play her part.
There's a lot of story packed into this. The movie is almost 2-3 smaller movies - pre-coma, coma, post-coma - combined into one. I really liked all the stories though. Early on, Kumail and Emily (Kazan) have a charming chemistry together. It's different enough from what I know about Kumail and the real Emily that I could appreciate what Kazan was bringing to the role. Zoe Kazan is an actress I'm familiar with although I haven't seen any of her more notable roles. Her history in movies like Ruby Sparks and What If, appear to have prepared her well for this. The film has to develop that relationship quickly and it succeeds. Kumail proves to be a much better actor than I expected. I had no doubts about his comedy chops, but he makes the more dramatic parts work too. I imagine the personal connection to the material helped with that. Hunter and Romano don't show up until after Emily is in the coma. It's a late introduction, but they establish themselves swiftly. I don't need to tell you that Hunter is great in the "mama bear" role. She's Holly Hunter after all. Romano might be a bit more of a surprise for anyone who hasn't seen him in Men of a Certain Age or Parenthood. He's shifted his dry comic persona to a world-weariness that works well for more dramatic roles. They cast some Indian and Pakistani actors* to play Kumail's family. I don't really recognize them from anything else, but they're quite good.
* The parents (Zenobia Shroff and Anupam Kher) are established Indians actors and the brother (Adeel Akhtar) is a Pakistani actor who has been featured a little more stateside.
The movie isn't perfect. There's a little too much story juggling. The stand-up stuff is underserved. However, I'd rather that be the case than make the movie any longer. It's already long enough at about 2 hours. This also features an odd pet peeve of mine. I don't like on-stage breakdowns that are supposed to mark a dramatic shift in the movie. I had a similar issue with Obvious Child and Don't Think Twice. When it happens, I can't help but imagine being in the audience when it happens and how awkward that would be. It's only a big moment for the person on stage. The Big Sick does recognize that awkwardness though, so I give it more of a pass.
The movie is funny, although it's not a laugh a minute. It's a comedy the way that Funny People is a comedy. You'll laugh plenty. Even the jokes that have been used in all the trailers and commercials still got a good response. There will also be stretches in which it abandons the jokes when they don't fit. I liked the balance, but if you come in expecting, I don't know, Knocked Up, you'll be disappointed. Crazy, Stupid Love is another good example of the tone it's aiming for. Not quite as light though.
I really, really liked this movie. It's almost a lock to be in my top 10 at the end of the year. For anyone complaining about the death or dearth of the RomCom, this'll give you some hope. I love films that are this personal. One of the things I love about Superbad is that you can tell this was a script Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg began writing as teenagers and went through numerous drafts an phases over the years. It's shaggy and messy and doesn't follow all the best practices of screenplay writing, but its authenticity makes up for it. The Big Sick has the same quality. It's a husband and wife teaming up - oh yeah, Kumail and Emily wrote the screenplay -to tell a story only they can tell. There is no movie without that.
Verdict (?): Strongly Recommend
No comments:
Post a Comment