The Big-Hearted “Big Sick”

Turns out, real emotions are the real way to one’s heart — and romantic comedy “The Big Sick” captures this message perfectly.

It’s rare when a film isn’t about guns or apes or princesses. It’s even rarer when a film is about timely cultural issues and doesn’t shove its message down your throat, but makes you laugh…and empathize…and think about things. That’s one of the beauties of The Big Sick, a Judd Apatow romantic comedy that goes far beyond its genre and genuinely touches the heart. And its release at this point in our ongoing American drama is so relevant.

The romantic leading man is a Pakistani-born Muslim, Kumail Nanjiani, who wrote the screenplay with his wife, Emily V. Gordon, based on their own story of how they got together (they have now been married for ten years). You may recognize Kumail from his role on the TV show Silicon Valley. In the movie, he is also named Kumail, and Zoe Kazan stars as his love interest.