The trailer for The Big Sick is here and following a great deal of positive reviews from Sundance, looks to be a romantic comedy prepared to break our hearts and help us love again. The Big Sick was written by married couple Kumail Nanjiani and Emily V. Gordon and the real-life parallels are heavy, though movie Emily is played by Zoe Kazan. Here’s the synopsis from Amazon Studios:
“The Big Sick tells the story of Pakistan-born aspiring comedian Kumail (Nanjiani), who connects with grad student Emily (Kazan) after one of his standup sets. However, what they thought would be just a one-night stand blossoms into the real thing, which complicates the life that is expected of Kumail by his traditional Muslim parents. When Emily is beset with a mystery illness, it forces Kumail to navigate the medical crisis with her parents, Beth and Terry (Holly Hunter and Ray Romano) who he’s never met, while dealing with the emotional tug-of-war between his family and his heart.”
Like their film counterparts, Nanjiani and Gordon faced the obstacles of his family trying to arrange a marriage with a Pakistani girl and Gordon’s hospitalization that led to her being put into an induced coma. You can read her piece, “Girlfriend in a Coma” about it here. References to Nanjiani’s love for The X-Files and other bits of his signature humor also fill the trailer and I’m thrilled that the actor is finally getting recognition for his ability to play a leading man. The last romantic comedy I really remember that did something similar was Ken Loach’s Ae Fond Kiss and we’ve been severely lacking in stories like that of Nanjiani and Gordon in mainstream media.
Are you excited to watch The Big Sick?
(image: Screencap)
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