Imagine you find the love of your life, but then during your first real fight, this person ends up in a coma. Sounds pretty funny right? … right? Well that is the basis for The Big Sick. Which is a semi-autobiographical story about how Kumail Nanjiani met his wife. It fits very much in the mold of Judd Apatow’s patented dramedy. Which is to say it is pretty good.
Apparently this all started because Apatow and Nanjiani were on the ‘You Made It Weird’ podcast together, and Apatow convinced Nanjiana that his story would make for a good movie. Of course Apatow would produce since funny people getting kind of sad is his bread and butter, and here we are. I have to admit it is a pretty touching movie, so Apatow knows his business.
The actors are all equally funny and sad. I think Kumail is on the verge of becoming a big star. He has great comedic timing, and he is very relatable. I would watch him in another couple dozen films. I hadn’t recognized the actor that played his would be wife, Zoe Kazan, but apparently she has been in a lot of stuff, and she is very talented. Even if she is in a coma for a lot of The Big Sick.
Amazon has gone to work making sure that they have plenty of movies for their service, and The Big Sick shows that all that work is paying off. I would have expected this movie to make a bigger splash this awards season, but a lot of non-comedies are filling up the comedy nominations this year, so The Big Sick and others are being left out. Which is kind of a shame. Anyway, if you have Amazon Prime, The Big Sick is a worthwhile film, and another hit added to Apatow’s already large collection.