Two Cents is an original column akin to a book club for films. The Cinapse team will program films and contribute our best, most insightful, or most creative thoughts on each film using a maximum of 200 words each. Guest writers and fan comments are encouraged, as are suggestions for future entries to the column. Join us as we share our two cents on films we love, films we are curious about, and films we believe merit some discussion.
The Pick
We don’t often get word-of-mouth hits these days, but The Big Sick just might qualify.
The unassuming romantic comedy-drama from director Michael Showalter, adapted by Kumail Nanjiani and Emily Gordon from their actual real-life courtship, and starring Nanjiani as himself and Zoe Kazan as Emily, The Big Sick made a big splash at Sundance and turned into a sleeper hit throughout summer of 2017.
Nanjiani plays himself as a struggling comedian in Chicago who stumbles into an inadvertent relationship with Emily, a young woman who heckles him during one show. The relationship is complicated due to Kumail’s reluctance to introduce Emily to his very traditional Pakistani family (including Zenobia Shroff and Anupam Kher as his mother and father) or to even tell them about her existence.
Just as the relationship seems blown up completely, Emily falls ill and is placed in a medically-induced coma. Kumail now finds himself keeping vigil alongside Emily’s parents (Holly Hunter, Ray Romano), neither of whom is exactly thrilled to be spending so much time with the jackass who broke their daughter’s heart.
As one of the few romantic comedy with actual life-and-death stakes, The Big Sick charmed the pants off pretty much everyone who saw it last year. But does it deserve to be counted among the best of the best? We put it to the team and the readership to see what they thought. — Brendan
Next Week’s Pick:
Easily the highest profile film of this series, improbable sequel Blade Runner 2049 found pockets of deep love with viewers but struggled at the box office. Directed by on-fire director Denis Villeneuve coming off an incredible run with Arrival, Sicario, and Prisoners, its trajectory seems to mirror that of its forebear: a long, beautiful, slow-burn science fiction epic that got off to a rough start with audiences. The original Blade Runner is now lauded as a masterwork — will 2049 follow suit? — Austin
Blade Runner 2049 isn’t streaming “no-cost” anywhere, but it just hit home video and can be easily rented, and we have a feeling a lot of you just bought it this week anyway.
You can send your thoughts to [email protected] anytime before midnight on Thursday.
Our Guest
Brendan Agnew:
This is the best romantic comedy since Groundhog Day.
If you know me, you may know that purgatorial stays in hospitals at the side of someone you love hits. . . a bit close to home, and the way this film handles its 2nd act digression into a very “shit just got real” stretch of a “based on a true story” narrative pushes that particular button rather hard and then holds it down. There are moments in The Big Sick that are almost painfully awkward or unbearably tense as you feel poised on the brink of unbearable tragedy, but the script — penned by the real-life couple on which the film is based — knows just when to bring in the warmth of humor or heartfelt human connection to get you through the next cold, dark night.
For all the genuine dramatic stakes at play in this story of “boy meets girl, boy and girl break up, girl is hospital-ridden and boy realizes he done screwed up,” it is also very funny. There’s a 9/11 joke (yes, you read that right) that is near-legend among fans of the film, but the extended tirade that Holly Hunter delivers against one of lead Kumail Nanjiani’s comedy club hecklers had me rolling. There’s an eerie balance struck that keeps The Big Sick from feeling agonizingly real but still almost painfully grounded, and — much to its credit — this film knows exactly how coy to play it with the ending it knows you want.
More importantly, it knows how to earn it. (@BLCAgnew)
The Team
“In the past few years, the “chick flick” has become less of a staple in my cinematic diet. While never a favorite type of film of mine, my favorite actor of all time is John Cusack, thus my appreciation for a good rom-com has always been significant. However, the increasing presence of exploitation, horror, and other genre film has left me little time to appreciate the more recent entries to the rom-com world.
This film is best described as a feel good dramedy. It has a lighthearted approach and some hilarious writing, despite having the weighty core of a character fighting a mysterious illness that could take her life. The tone works well though, as the set up assured the viewer that there will be happiness in the end.
The writing and the performances are stellar. In fact, despite the fact I’ve always disregarded the idea that “everyone loves Raymond” as I never loved Ray Romano at all, I even find his performance to be damn near perfect. A strong script that is well executed basically assures that a movie will work. This is certainly the case here.
The Big Sick made me laugh out loud and it made me cry like a baby. When it comes down to it, what more can I ask? (@ThePaintedMan)
As a genre, the romantic comedy has gotten something of a muddied reputation over the years. It’s often a cloying, mawkish product, one that may draw tears and cheers from some, but eye rolls from others. On the rare occasion that the two components are married properly, you can get something special; The Big Sick is one such example. It’s genuinely heartfelt and moving, while being one of the most hilarious films you’ll see this year. [You can read Jon’s full review HERE] (@Texas_Jon)
Endlessly charming, gut-bustingly hilarious, and with a deep vein of sincerity and empathy, The Big Sick is the kind of film that people complain they don’t make any more. And usually when they do make them, the audience isn’t there to support it. Amidst a Hollywood landscape of alien spacecrafts and superbeings punching each other through walls (not that I’m complaining, mind you. Black Panther looks like the dopest dope of all time, just saying), here is a small story about flawed adults struggling through deeply complex emotional problems, problems without easy answers.
But, you know…funny.
The Big Sick knows all the plays in the romantic comedy playbook (director Showalter effectively shredded all of them in the hysterical, deeply underrated They Came Together) and so the film knows exactly when to zig when you expect a zag, and how to make the most familiar beats feel the most satisfying. Above all, The Big Sick is a comedy that never derives its laughs from mocking or insulting any of its cast or characters. The film adores all these weird, messy people, celebrating the ways in which they stumble and fuck up, because it makes the moments when love overcomes all obstacles feel all the more earned. (@TheTrueBrendanF)
I’ve wanted to check out The Big Sick since reading Brendan’s theatrical review, but felt a bit intimidated to do so —it’s difficult for me to just stand there and take an emotional gut punch when I know it’s coming.
Thankfully the film does strike a certain balance, peppering in a lot of humor and awkward laughs in with the streaming tears. It’s a deeply personal story with emotional engagement, but while I anticipated getting invested in the romance between Kumail and Emily, it is Kumail’s relationship with her parents that anchors the film and is even more resonant, encapsulating so much truth about friendship, love, forgiveness, and humanity. (@VforVashaw)
Next week’s pick: