#The big sick driver#

Nanjiani and Kazan are also a likable leading couple, the latter managing to shake off the manic pixie dream girl trope she’s usually stuck with in tiresome indie dirge such as Ruby Sparks and What If. She’s the film’s MVP, a warm, feisty, naturalistic performance that could see her return to the Oscar race next year. They’re both superbly cast, deftly attuned to one another in a lived-in, messy way, and it’s a joy to see Hunter given the opportunity to flex her underutilized talents. Their early scenes together boast a genuine spark, but it’s in studying the other familial relationships that the film really brings something sharp and distinctive to the table.Įxploring the dynamic between suitor and potential in-laws feels like a relatively untapped source of both comedic and dramatic potential, and director Michael Showalter (improving on his unbearably twee Sally Field drama Hello My Name Is Doris), working with producer Judd Apatow, smartly recruits the unlikely pair of Romano and Hunter to help bring this side of the story to life. It helps that Nanjiani decided to co-write the script with – spoiler – his now wife, Emily V Gordon we have an unusually well-balanced view of a burgeoning relationship boasting not just a male character of depth but a counterpart who feels like more than just a screenwriter’s idea of a woman.

There’s a refreshing lack of self-indulgence on display in The Big Sick, a surprise given how often it tends to permeate through not only other comic confessionals but autobiographical fodder in general. Despite no longer being her boyfriend, he feels compelled to stay close, accompanied by her traumatized, and bemused, parents (Ray Romano and Holly Hunter). Their relationship ultimately falls apart as a result, but soon after he hears word that Emily has been struck down with a mysterious illness and, with his panicked input, she is placed in a medically induced coma. His Pakistani parents are keen to engineer an arranged marriage for him with a pre-selected Muslim woman but when Kumail falls for Emily (Zoe Kazan), a white American student, he’s faced with a difficult decision.

#The big sick driver#

Kumail is an Uber driver struggling to get his career as a comic off the ground while simultaneously facing a continuous conveyor belt of potential brides from his eager mother. It’s primarily a romantic comedy, but also a family drama detailing the unusual courtship between Nanjiani, his girlfriend and her parents. It’s a great many other things too, all working seamlessly together to create a charming, multifaceted film that never feels as overstuffed as it could in different hands. But The Big Sick is not just the story of a comedian trying to earn a living.