Okay, okay, okay, listen. I’m not adverse to stepping outside of the book-realm once in a while if something comes along that’s really worth talking about. And this past weekend, I watched a movie worth talking about: The Big Sick.
The Big Sick tells a story of an interracial couple, Kumail Nanjiani and Emily Gordon, finding each other in Chicago. Despite the difference in their backgrounds, they attempt to make it work. However, the strain their families put on the relationship (mostly from Kumail’s family) causes things to go south.
This may seem like I’m throwing out a lot of spoilers, but I promise I’m not. I haven’t said anything you wouldn’t see in the trailer.
At this point in the movie, we expect this couple to reconcile despite their differences. Instead, Emily suffers a medical complication and ends up in the hospital in a medically induced coma. *TWIST* This is how Kumail meets Emily’s parents, and in their own way, they become a family of sorts.
What really struck me about this movie, and what made me want to talk about it here, is how much it felt like a book. I actually had to do a google search in the middle of the movie because I was convinced it was based on a novel (it’s not!)
The things this movie was able to do is just incredible. It was a cycle rotating through making you care and root for our main characters, making you laugh, and then cutting your heart to pieces. Rinse and repeat. All of this happens in a persistent of sea of delicious awkwardness.
Remember when I said I had to google to see if it was based on a book? Turns out, Kumail Nanjiani isn’t just the character’s name. It’s the actor’s as well. And this movie is loosely based on the events surrounding him and his real-life wife, Emily Gordon (though Emily is played by an actress where Kumail plays himself.)
Kumail and the real-life Emily
You didn’t need to read any of this to convince you to see this movie, though. All you need to watch the trailer below. Watch it, then go watch the full movie. It’s delightful.
