In this singular exploration of legacy, love, loss, and the enormity of existence, a recently deceased, white-sheeted ghost returns to his suburban home to try to reconnect with his bereft wife.
Director:
David Lowery
Stars:
Casey Affleck,
Rooney Mara,
McColm Cephas Jr.
Peter Parker, with the help of his mentor Tony Stark, tries to balance his life as an ordinary high school student in New York City while fighting crime as his superhero alter ego Spider-Man when a new threat emerges.
Director:
Jon Watts
Stars:
Tom Holland,
Michael Keaton,
Robert Downey Jr.
A young servant fleeing from his master takes refuge at a convent full of emotionally unstable nuns in the Middle Ages. Introduced as a deaf blind man, he must fight to hold his cover as the nuns try to resist temptation.
Meet Mija, a young girl who risks everything to prevent a powerful, multi-national company from kidnapping her best friend - a fascinating animal named Okja.
A documentary that follows the efforts of "Raqqa Is Being Slaughtered Silently," a handful of anonymous activists who banded together after their homeland was taken over by ISIS in 2014. ... See full summary »
Entertainment news, trailer drops, and photos abound at the 2017 San Diego Comic-Con. Check out IMDb’s coverage, featuring Kevin Smith as our host, celebrity interviewer, and captain of the IMDboat, July 20 to 22.
This movie is based on how Kumail Nanjiani, and his real life wife (co-writer) Emily V. Gordon, met and fell in love. See more »
Goofs
Although the film is set in Chicago and Emily is said to be at "City Hospital," a sign for Katz Women's Hospital at the Long Island Jewish Medical Center in New York is clearly visible when Kumail arrives. See more »
She Let Me Go
Written by Brian Clayton Costello & Gary Costello
Performed by Brian Clayton
Published by Westunes Music Publishing Co. (ASCAP)
Courtesy of Westwood Music Group See more »
If this is the route modern American comedies are going than I say it's about darn time. And no I'm not just talking about the movie's general impetus in telling what amounts to a cultural exchange on screen - though good on them for doing that. I'm talking about telling honest, heartfelt stories with beautifully rendered characters, dealing with emotions that inform the humor and give the film a life of its own. One can't but help think if this story was given to anyone else we'd wind up with a paint-by-numbers millennial version of While You Were Sleeping (1995).
Though its not like there was a chance in that happening. Actor and comedian Kumail Nanjiani plays (drum-roll) Kumail Nanjiani a small time Chicago comedian with a couple of killer bits and a so-so one-man show (big stretch). One night after his set he meets Emily (Kazan) a spirited graduate student who falls for his deadpan sense of humor and unconventional charm. A relationship blooms causing Kumail to question his parents' ongoing plan to have him betrothed to a Pakistani woman; a fact he keeps secret from Emily until right before he's to meet her parents for the first time.
The title of the film hints at a pivotal turning point in Emily and Kumail's relationship but it might as well describe the lengths to which Kumail denies, conceals and avoids the pressures of being a second generation Pakistani living in America. Kumail strives to stand apart from his culture every chance he gets, using it insofar as it informs the setup of his jokes and nothing more. During his one-man show, Kumail examines his culture as if it is a specimen suspended in a vat of formaldehyde - a note Emily makes when she says "I learned a lot about Pakistan but not a lot about you." As pressures mount, the infection spreads; his usual denials turn into a malignant duplicities in which he risks his relationship, his family and his career. Yet despite being unfathomably introspective, The Big Sick never fails to keep the tone light. Part of that has to do with Nanjiani himself whose unusual energy keeps us rooting for the character, while reveling in the bulls**t he goes through that both he and the audience know he deserves. The lion's share of the credit however has to go to the winning script (written by real life husband/wife team Nanjiani and Emily V. Gordon). It veers wildly through divergent plot-points with honesty and sensitivity, gainfully finding good-spirited humor out of just about everything. Whether it be the intense protective love of family (handled by the one-two punch of Holly Hunter and Ray Romano) or parents with outmoded ideas about dating (Kher and Shroff), the universality of The Big Sick still rings true.
Of course, as with all perceived "rom-coms," The Big Sick has a final act problem. Though, to be frank, it should get brownie points for never taking the easy way out or pandering with a chintzy plot device. It leans into the predicted third act misunderstanding but not the kind that can be easily solved with a two minute speech at an airport terminal (or a phone call). The implications of whats on screen could fill the contents of a whole other movie but at 2 hours, The Big Sick simply doesn't have enough gas in the tank for such an undertaking. It's a shame too because I for one would have been game for it.
And that's ultimately the highest compliment I could pay. Unlike Funny People (2009), another Apatow production that also explored the life of a comedian, The Big Sick doesn't feel long in the least. It is rather a beguiling movie themed around 21st century romance that is refreshingly honest and unabashedly cosmopolitan.
5 of 6 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful to you?
If this is the route modern American comedies are going than I say it's about darn time. And no I'm not just talking about the movie's general impetus in telling what amounts to a cultural exchange on screen - though good on them for doing that. I'm talking about telling honest, heartfelt stories with beautifully rendered characters, dealing with emotions that inform the humor and give the film a life of its own. One can't but help think if this story was given to anyone else we'd wind up with a paint-by-numbers millennial version of While You Were Sleeping (1995).
Though its not like there was a chance in that happening. Actor and comedian Kumail Nanjiani plays (drum-roll) Kumail Nanjiani a small time Chicago comedian with a couple of killer bits and a so-so one-man show (big stretch). One night after his set he meets Emily (Kazan) a spirited graduate student who falls for his deadpan sense of humor and unconventional charm. A relationship blooms causing Kumail to question his parents' ongoing plan to have him betrothed to a Pakistani woman; a fact he keeps secret from Emily until right before he's to meet her parents for the first time.
The title of the film hints at a pivotal turning point in Emily and Kumail's relationship but it might as well describe the lengths to which Kumail denies, conceals and avoids the pressures of being a second generation Pakistani living in America. Kumail strives to stand apart from his culture every chance he gets, using it insofar as it informs the setup of his jokes and nothing more. During his one-man show, Kumail examines his culture as if it is a specimen suspended in a vat of formaldehyde - a note Emily makes when she says "I learned a lot about Pakistan but not a lot about you." As pressures mount, the infection spreads; his usual denials turn into a malignant duplicities in which he risks his relationship, his family and his career. Yet despite being unfathomably introspective, The Big Sick never fails to keep the tone light. Part of that has to do with Nanjiani himself whose unusual energy keeps us rooting for the character, while reveling in the bulls**t he goes through that both he and the audience know he deserves. The lion's share of the credit however has to go to the winning script (written by real life husband/wife team Nanjiani and Emily V. Gordon). It veers wildly through divergent plot-points with honesty and sensitivity, gainfully finding good-spirited humor out of just about everything. Whether it be the intense protective love of family (handled by the one-two punch of Holly Hunter and Ray Romano) or parents with outmoded ideas about dating (Kher and Shroff), the universality of The Big Sick still rings true.
Of course, as with all perceived "rom-coms," The Big Sick has a final act problem. Though, to be frank, it should get brownie points for never taking the easy way out or pandering with a chintzy plot device. It leans into the predicted third act misunderstanding but not the kind that can be easily solved with a two minute speech at an airport terminal (or a phone call). The implications of whats on screen could fill the contents of a whole other movie but at 2 hours, The Big Sick simply doesn't have enough gas in the tank for such an undertaking. It's a shame too because I for one would have been game for it.
And that's ultimately the highest compliment I could pay. Unlike Funny People (2009), another Apatow production that also explored the life of a comedian, The Big Sick doesn't feel long in the least. It is rather a beguiling movie themed around 21st century romance that is refreshingly honest and unabashedly cosmopolitan.