Rating summary

Movie		4.5
Video		4.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		2.5
Overall		4.5

The Big Sick Blu-ray Movie Review

All's well that ends healthily.

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman September 16, 2017

Fans of Carol Burnett may recall she did a laugh out loud send up of Love Story on the old beloved Carol Burnett Show that is so well remembered it has evidently been packaged as a theatrical sketch than can be licensed for performance. A story about a relationship seemingly doomed by an incurable disease would hardly seem to be the stuff of comedy, but Burnett’s ace writing team made her parody one of the funniest movie bits her show ever did. Rather incredibly, Kumail Nanjiani and his wife Emily V. Gordon have probably matched the comedy writing acumen of the old Burnett show's staff, but they have also added a degree of heart that makes The Big Sick not only one of the funniest films in recent memory, but also one of the most emotionally resonant as well. Culled from real life, at least more or less, The Big Sick documents the halting courtship between Kumail (playing himself, again more or less) and Emily (Zoe Kazan), a courtship made difficult first by Kumail’s Pakistani family who wants him to be “a good Muslim” and marry a Pakistani girl and, later, by a mysterious illness that sends Emily to the hospital, where she’s quickly put into a medically induced coma. The Big Sick manages to wring laughs out of some fairly unlikely material, but it also has a really sweet natured undercurrent which seems to suggest that despite vast differences in culture and family dynamics, those with different upbringings can actually forge something akin to happily ever after, rather than, say, more typical star-crossed Romeo and Juliet traumas.

Silicon Valley: The Complete Fourth Season, a series which of course features Nanjiani as high tech wizard Dinesh, began with a bit which briefly suggested that Richard, the show’s focal character, may have fallen upon such hard times that he was forced to become an Uber driver. The Big Sick also offers Kumail as a paid chauffeur, though this time it’s actually the way he makes his living, even though he’s trying to make in the world of Chicago stand up comedy. While he hasn’t hit the big time yet, he at least is surrounded by a coterie of close comedian friends, including Chris (Kurt Braunohler), Mary (Aidy Bryant) and CJ (Bo Burnham). The film has several enjoyable backstage vignettes with this motley crew that often play like similar scenes in offerings like Crashing: The Complete First Season.

Despite typical dysfunctions like some funny sibling rivalry between Kumail and his brother Naveed (Adeel Akhtar), Kumail is undeniably close to his family, which includes his mother Sharmeen (Zenobia Shroff) and father Azmat (Anupam Kher). One of the running gags of the film is that every time Kumail goes home for a family dinner, his mother has thoughtfully arranged for a single Pakistani woman to “drop by” to meet her son. While almost all of these women are attractive (some actually drop dead gorgeous) and obviously interested in Kumail, Kumail is at best noncommittal, consigning their photographs (they all bring “data” on themselves to share with him) to a bedroom cigar box.

When Kumail is playfully heckled by a girl at a gig one night, he uses his signature move on her later by writing her name in Urdu, something that kinda sorta works with her, despite her eye rolling. Her name is Emily (Zoe Kazan), and after a one night stand, the two seem to be on the way to something more serious, except that Kumail can’t quite bring himself to admit he’s dating a non-Pakistani to his family, something that of course introduces some tension into the relationship. When Emily unexpectedly collapses one day and ends up in the hospital with a mysterious but worryingly aggressive virus, Kumail is called upon to sign documents allowing doctors to place her in a medically induced coma, this despite the fact that he’s not related to her, and the two have in fact had a huge argument and broken up (in a detail Kumail and the real life Emily admit was “dramatized” for the film and which never actually occurred).

Already the film has had some unusual elements commingling with each other, but at this point The Big Sick takes another rather deftly handled detour when Emily’s parents Beth (Holly Hunter) and Terry (Ray Romano) show up. They’re initially fairly hostile to Kumail (they’re aware that he and Emily have broken up), but a number of intervening events end up bringing them closer together (even as certain tensions between Beth and Terry escalate). Kumail, meanwhile, has become an almost obsessively devoted visitor to Emily’s bedside, something that in and of itself seems to win over the initially disapproving parental units.

Since many, maybe even most, coming to The Big Sick are going to know it’s based on Kumail’s real life and was co-written by his (still living) wife, there’s no real “suspense” here as to where the story is ultimately going. But that ends up not really mattering all that much, since all of the characters are so finely written and expertly portrayed. There is some real, honest emotion that accrues in the last half hour or so of the film, after Emily has awoken but happily ever after is still not assured. That aforementioned sweetness that runs through the film helps to assuage the feeling that emotions are being manipulated (rather skillfully, it should be admitted), in an approach that seems downright counterintuitive to the take no prisoners attitude many standup comedians employ in their routines.

Note: I have to admit I was a little surprised to see that my colleague Brian Orndorf was considerably less impressed with The Big Sick than I was. Brian reviewed the film during its theatrical exhibition, and you can read his thoughts here.

The Big Sick Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

The Big Sick is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Lionsgate Films with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.85:1. The closing credits simply list a generic Arri (which may in fact refer to rentals), but some online data suggests the Alexa Mini was used for the shoot. The results offer excellent detail levels when lighting conditions allow, but quite a bit of the film takes place in pretty dark club environments, where fine detail levels especially can at least partially falter. There's little to no overt color grading employed in the feature, and as such the palette looks very natural, although some scenes have an intentionally cool, wintry quality to them. There are no issues with compression anomalies or any other problems.

The Big Sick Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The Big Sick's DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track offers some great immersion in the club scenes, where sometimes raucous crowd response spills through the side and rear channels, as well as even a couple of the noisier hospital scenes, but for the most part the film tends to play out in more reserved dialogue moments, where surround activity is understandably more limited. That dialogue is always offered cleanly and clearly, and the film's regular use of source cues also ups the sonic energy consistently as well as providing good beds of surround activity.

The Big Sick Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Cast and Filmmaker Commentary features producer Barry Mendel, Kumail, Emily, and director Michael Showalter


• A Personal Journey: The Making of The Big Sick (1080p; 14:49) is an engaging EPK with some fun interviews with Kumail and Judd Apatow, among others.


• The Real Story (1080p; 7:11) features Kumail and Emily talking about the real life background of the film's tale.


• 2017 SXSW Film Festival Panel (1080p; 11:32) is from March 2017 and features Barry Mendel, Kumail, Emily and Judd Apatow.


• The Big Sick: The Other Stuff (1080p; 3:47) is kind of a cross between outtakes and a gag reel.


• Deleted Scenes (1080p; 10:06)


• The Bigger Sick: Stick Around for More Laughs (1080p; 10:25) documents The Big Sick's tour.

The Big Sick Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

I wouldn't be surprised to see Kumail and (the real life) Emily sharing an Academy Award nomination next year for Best Original Screenplay, for The Big Sick is that rare kind of film that delivers some huge laughs along with a substantial amount of heart. Performances are top notch, some of the cultural critiquing is enjoyably incisive, and the undeniable sweetness that Kumail seems to almost genetically generate is more than amply on display. Technical merits are strong, and The Big Sick comes Highly recommended.