THEBIGSICK(15)*****
JUST when it seemed that heartfelt romantic comedies might be in terminal decline and doomed to labour on life support, along comes director Michael Showalter’s uplifting and bittersweet tale of cross-cultural love.
Based on the real-life courtship of Pakistani-American stand-up comedian Kumail Nanjiani and his wife Emily V. Gordon, who co-wrote the script, The Big Sick is a small, perfectly formed gem, which is polished to a dazzling glister by a superb ensemble cast.
Nanjiani plays himself to deadpan perfection and he catalyses molten screen chemistry with co-star Zoe Kazan as the luminous object of his awkward affections.
Their fledgling romance is sketched in delicate strokes and when this amour fou hits an almighty speed bump that compels Emily to tearfully confide, “You make me sad inside my heart,” we are devastated like her paramour.
The two-hour running time allows Nanjiani and Kazan to populate each unfussy frame with flawed, believable and endearing characters, who don’t always know what to say to ease the pain of the people they adore.
Trickles of saltwater tears are mopped up with swathes of sincere, warm-hearted humour.
If laughter is the best medicine then a spoonful of Showalter’s film is a tonic that leaves the sweetest feeling.
In 2006, Kumail (Nanjiani) hones his craft on the Chicago comedy scene with fellow stand-ups CJ (Bo Burnham), Mary (Aidy Bryant) and Chris (Kurt Braunohler).
To pay the rent, Kumail works as a taxi driver and he enjoys precious family time with his father Azmat (Anupam Kher), brother Naveed (Adeel Akhtar) and mother Sharmeen (Zenobia Shroff), who invites a different Pakistani Muslim woman to the dinner table each night as a potential love match.
After one comedy gig, Kumail meets spunky audience member Emily (Kazan) and there is a palpable spark of attraction.
Kumail keeps the relationship secret from his family, then Emily discovers a cigar box filled with photographs of women hand-picked by his