THE BIG SICK

Of all the genres and all the films out there, romantic comedies are more often than not the hardest I find to make a connection with, usually because they all tend to blend together by following pretty much the exact same formula. Every now and then though, a romantic comedy comes along that really does surprise me in how much I enjoy it. It happened in 2011 with Crazy, Stupid, Love and it's most definitely happened this year with The Big Sick.

Kumail (Kumail Nanjiani) is a comedian trying to make it to the major festival circuits. After being heckled by Emily (Zoe Kazan) at one of his shows, the pair begin to date and form a close relationship. A relationship that is put the ultimate test when their cultural differences begin to cast doubt over whether they have any sort of a future together.

It's the personal touch to The Big Sick that makes it such a great little romantic comedy, being loosely based on the real life relationship between Kumail Nanjiani and Emily Gordon, who he is now married to. Their story drives the film forward and it's full of some genuinely hilarious moments as well as a number of heartfelt moments that derive from both Kumail's Muslim upbringing and the illness that Emily goes through.

The film being such a personal reflection brings out a fine performance from Kumail Nanjiani, who's always been one of my favourites from Silicon Valley, and the chemistry he shares with Zoe Kazan goes a long way in really selling Kumail and Emily's relationship to the audience. There's some fine supporting performances too from the likes of Holly Hunter, Ray Romano and Adeel Akhtar, all of them proving that subtle comedy comes quite easy to them.

The Big Sick does run for a little too long however, when the film is as funny and touching as this then it doesn't tend to bother me so much. I can't recommend this highly enough for a date night at the cinema.

Verdict: ★★★★