The Press and Journal (Inverness, Highlands, and Islands)
THE BIG SICK (15)
Pakistani- American comedian Kumail Nanjiani (playing himself ) hones his craft in Chicago with fellow standups 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 Muslim woman to the dinner table each night as a potential love match.
After one comedy gig , Kumail meets spunky audience member Emily ( Zoe Kazan) and there is a palpable spark of attraction. Soon after, Emily contracts a serious infection and doctors induce a medical coma.
It’s left to Kumail to inform Emily’s parents, Beth (Holly Hunter) and Terr y ( Ray Romano), and the trio bonds awkwardly in the hospital waiting room and cafeteria.
Based on Nanjiani ’s real-life courtship of his wife, who co-wrote the script, The Big Sick is a small, perfectly formed gem, which wears an easily broken heart on its sleeve and elicits roaring belly laughs from the predicament.
The script generously distributes the best lines between the cast, including Hunter and Romano as delightfully protective parents with their own relationship woes.
Director Michael Showalter nimbly sidesteps genre cliches, allowing the pithy and occasionally withering words to speak louder than his actions.
The central 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 devas ta ted l ike her paramour. central duo’s