“Egotism” may be the wrong word to describe why The Big Sick doesn’t quite work, but it’s all that comes to mind. Husband-and-wife team Kumail Nanjiani and Emily V. Gordon wrote a romantic comedy based on their relationship’s very unconventional early days (many of which she spent in a medically induced coma), and Nanjiani plays himself in the film. Big mistake—as was looking to executive producer Judd Apatow to help filter the couple’s real-life struggles through a clogged, narrow funnel of sitcom tropes and “Based on a True Story” beats. In both cases, the guys detract from an earnest story that encompasses not only multiple awkward family dynamics but also a grand cultural divide between Nanjiani and his Pakistani-Muslim parents. The gripping premise succumbs to a lead who seems constantly on the verge of smirking at his breakout role, and an EP whose faulty instincts tell everyone to go “big”.
Listen to Kicking the Seat Podcast #236 to hear Ian and Keeping it Reel's David Fowlie diagnose The Big Sick!