Summer’s brightest romcom
The BIG SIck (Cert 15; 120mins)
JUST when you thought romantic comedies had forgotten how to be sweet and charming, along comes The Big Sick. Inspired by the real-life love affair between Pakistani-born stand-up comic Kumail Nanjiani and his American girlfriend Emily, The Big Sick confidently veers between the funny and the serious to create that rarest of creatures: a film in which you really care about the characters.
Nanjiani’s comedy background means the film initially seems a little slick and self-satisfied with every conversation seemingly designed to set up a gag. He is also a little too old to be playing his younger self. But any reservations fall by the wayside as you become invested in the reluctant couple and the boisterous families that surround them.
Kumail is an Uber driver and stand-up comic in a small-time Chicago club when he meets therapist Emily (Zoe Kazan) who introduces herself with an enthusiastic heckle.
There is an instant connection. They are relaxed and comfortable together, quickly sliding into affectionate teasing. He invites her to watch movies including Night Of The Living Dead and she responds with a sarcastic “I love it when men test me on my taste”.
Kumail and Emily seem perfect together but both of them are wary of committing to a relationship. Kumail is going through the motions of pleasing his family by meeting the assembly line of candidates deemed perfect for an arranged marriage. Emily claims that she is “not really dating at the moment”.
But everything changes when Emily is rushed to hospital with a mysterious illness and Kumail begins a bedside vigil. He also finally comes face to face with Emily’s parents Beth (Holly Hunter) and Terry (Ray Romano). Beth in particular is not afraid to say exactly what she feels and Hunter is on top form as a straight-talking woman with a big heart.
The performances are impressive throughout The Big Sick and pitched at just the right level. The relationship between Kumail and Emily is very believable and his parents are suitably larger than life with mother Sharmeen (Zenobia Shroff) constantly parading potential wives who just happen to drop by when Kumail is guaranteed to be paying a visit.
The easy banter and warm affection would be sufficient to make The Big Sick pleasant viewing but it succeeds by going the extra mile.
Nanjiani wades into some weighty issues from the need to be true to yourself to the sensitivities of being a migrant making a new life in a foreign land. “Why did you bring me here if you don’t want me to have an American life?” he demands of his traditionalist parents. He even dares to joke about 9/11.
It may not be perfect but The Big Sick is smart and witty and likely to be the summer’s finest romantic comedy.
The wAll (Cert 15; 88mins)
A CRUMBLING wall is all that stands between an American soldier and an Iraqi sniper’s bullet in lean thriller The Wall.
Set in 2007 as the war in Iraq supposedly draws to a close, the film focuses on two American soldiers in the desert. Matthews (John Cena) and Isaac (Aaron Taylor-Johnson) have arrived at an oil pipeline where everyone has been shot dead.
Is the area now safe or is the sniper still there waiting for his next target? The answer comes soon enough, leaving a wounded Isaac sheltering behind a stone wall and desperately trying to radio for help.
There is a degree of tension but the film becomes less convincing as the unseen sniper (voiced by Laith Nakli) makes radio contact, taunting his victim and urging him to question US foreign policy.
Aaron Taylor-Johnson is convincing enough but it is hard to emotionally invest in his fate when the film feels so soulless and more like a worthy radio drama or fringe theatre.
GIRlS TRIp (Cert 15; 122mins)
MIDDLE-AGED women just wanna have fun in Girls Trip, a typically raunchy American ensemble comedy that is sharper and warmer than you might have feared. Ryan (Regina Hall) is a bestselling author advising her readers on how they can have it all. When work takes her to the Essence Fest in New Orleans, she decides to reunite the posse of college friends she hasn’t seen for way too long. Blogger Sasha (Queen Latifah), single mum Lisa (Jada Pinkett Smith) and newly unemployed Dina (Tiffany Haddish) are all along for the ride.
Girls Trip is crude and veers towards soap opera but there is a chemistry between the stars, some funny situations and Haddish steals the show as the unrelentingly vulgar Dina.
howARDS eND (Cert PG; 136mins)
IT IS 25 years since the release of Howards End, a film that won a Best Actress Oscar for Emma Thompson and probably should have won a Supporting Actress prize for Vanessa Redgrave. Both are impeccable in one of the best Merchant Ivory productions and one of the finest adaptations of an EM Forster novel.
Thompson shines as Margaret Schlegel, a woman whose kind heart and sense of virtue eclipse the greed and cruelty of a wealthy family determined to retain control of what they believe to be rightfully theirs.
Anthony Hopkins and Helena Bonham Carter co-star in a period drama that deserves its anniversary return to the big screen.
houNDS of love (Cert 18; 108mins)
ANYONE of a delicate sensibility should probably steer clear of grisly Australian tale Hounds Of Love. Set in the 1980s and based on a number of true stories, it follows teenager Vicki (Emma Booth) as she is persuaded to accept a lift from strangers.
It is the beginning of a gruelling ordeal in which she is held captive by deceptively ordinary suburban couple John (Stephen Curry) and Evelyn (Ashley Cummings). Powerful performances help to make this the stuff of nightmares.