The Big Sick (2017) * * *

Directed by:  Michael Showalter

Starring:  Kumail Nanjiani, Zoe Kazan, Holly Hunter, Ray Romano, Anupam Kher, Zenobia Shroff, Adeel Akhtar

What we have with The Big Sick is a cute beginning, morphing into an engaging middle, and then an ending that runs about 15 minutes too long.     Once I read Judd Apatow was one of the film's producers, I can't say I was stunned that the movie ran long.     I've said previously (and it appears I will for the foreseeable future) that the easiest job in Hollywood is an editor on a Judd Apatow project, because the running time tends to outlast our desire to stay planted in our seats.

But, there is plenty to like about The Big Sick, which was co-written by Nanjiani and his wife Emily Gordon and depicts a semi-fictionalized version of their relationship and how it triumphed over cultural differences and a severe medical issue to evolve into marriage.     Kumail is a Pakistan-born, American-raised stand-up comic looking for a big break/Uber driver who meets the perky Emily (Kazan) during a set one night.     She shouts "Woo-hoo" at one of his jokes, which sparks an immediate attraction even though, according to Kumail, she is technically heckling him.

They sleep together, they fall in love, they hang out together.    Kumail, however, comes from a family steeped in Pakistani tradition of arranged marriage.    Whenever Kumail visits for dinner, Kumail's mother (Shroff) arranges for an available Pakistani woman to come by and make her case for marriage.     This happens numerous times, to the point that the family can time down to the second exactly when the knock on the door will come.    The potential brides come prepared with a headshot and a resume as if they were on an audition.     Instead of telling his family he is in love with Emily, he passive-aggressively humors his family in order to avoid confrontation.     There is a moving payoff to Kumail's deception later on which has serious consequences on his relationships with Emily and his family.

Soon, Emily, sensing that Kumail will never be able to marry her because that would mean estrangement from his family, breaks up with him and a short time later is hospitalized for a severe lung infection.    The doctors place Emily in a medically-induced coma to stabilize her and figure out how to treat her.     Kumail waits with her and contacts her parents, Beth and Terry (Hunter and Romano), who show up and make it known they would rather Kumail leave the scene.     He is the ex-boyfriend after all and the parents know the whole ugly backstory anyway.

Kumail chooses to stay and support Emily and her struggling parents, who are faced with the prospect of losing their daughter.     Kumail  and Emily's parents approach each other at first defensively, then settle into détente, followed by understanding and friendship.     We also see tension between Beth and Terry which goes beyond the stress of dealing with Emily.     Beth and Terry are a study in opposites.     Terry is a likable lug who only wants to keep the peace, while Beth is a firecracker who finally has someone (or something) in which to direct her energies and anger.     Hunter and Romano excel in their roles.    I wouldn't be surprised to see Hunter nominated for a Best Supporting Actress Oscar.  

Kumail is playing himself and he is the correct person to play the role.    He understands his life is a juggling act between embracing American ideals of love and appeasing his family's wishes to maintain Pakistani culture.    Kumail uses humor to hide his emotions and deflect from potentially troubling situations.    Sometimes the humor causes further issues, including a 9/11 joke that is among the funniest things I've heard in a movie in a long time.    Mostly because of Kumail's deadpan delivery but also because it was unexpected. 

Kumail can keep the balls in the air for a while, but soon the weight of trying to please everyone becomes too much to bear.     He asks his parents, "Why would you move to America if you wanted us to be Pakistani?"    They don't have an answer.     In a way, Kumail's parents take on the same personality traits as Beth and Terry.    Kumail's father Azmat is the more reasonable, while Sharmeen is more rigid.     In both cases, the parents are loving, tender when need be, and lash out when they are hurt.     In other words, human.

Many scenes in The Big Sick reveal rich human truth.   We can surely understand Emily's reaction when she awakes from her coma to find Kumail, whom she broke up with, standing at her bedside.    The people in The Big Sick are allowed to be flawed.    They don't always have the right answers and they always have the wrong ones either.     We know how things will turn out (since Kumail and Emily are now married), but The Big Sick isn't as interested in the events as it is about being engaging and allowing its people to be uncertain, scared, funny, happy, and even any combination of these emotions.