It’s been a long time since we’ve had what I consider a “traditional” rom-com. Sure, we’ve had Silver Linings Playbook and La La Land, but nothing in the same vein as Four Weddings and a Funeral, Notting Hill, When Harry Met Sally… and other films starring Meg Ryan and Hugh Grant. It’s a dying genre, and it makes me incredibly happy that people as talented as Kumail Nanjiani and Emily V. Gordon are trying to use their love of the craft to revive it in the autobiographical The Big Sick, the film that won over Sundance and SXSW.
Kumail (Nanjiani) is an up and coming Pakistani comic who begins a relationship with Emily (Zoe Kazan), an American girl. However, their relationship suffers due to his inability to stand up to his family, who want nothing more than to set him up with a Pakistani Muslim girl. And when it seems like their relationship won’t last, she develops complications from Stills Disease and must be put into a medically induced coma. So Kumail, in a bid to win her back, waits alongside her uncomfortable family for her to wake up so he can prove how much he cares about her.
This is an unusual concept for a rom-com, and yet, it looks like it’ll work, thanks to Nanjiani and Gordon’s distinct voices. I’ll admit I wasn’t as “wowed” by this trailer as I wanted to be, but I also came in with incredibly high standards. And that doesn’t take away from the wonderful, wonderful comedy on display. Holly Hunter has been in need of another great role for quite some time, and she looks absolutely stellar here. However, I’m more excited for the performance by television star Ray Romano, who looks perfectly likable and hilarious as Gordon’s dad. He has an absolutely awful line near the end of the trailer that he flips onto its head and makes hysterical. I cannot be more excited for this film, and I hope you are too. The film will be released by Amazon Studios in limited release June 23rd, and will go wide on July 14th (the anniversary of the couple). You can watch the trailer below.
Add Comment