Citizen Charlie
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  • 2019 Films
    • 3.5 Stars >
      • Alita: Battle Angel
    • 3 Stars >
      • The Kid Who Would Be King
      • Velvet Buzzsaw
    • 2.5 Stars >
      • How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World
      • The LEGO Movie 2: The Second Part
      • Stan & Ollie
      • The Upside
    • 2 Stars >
      • Glass
      • Isn't It Romantic
      • What Men Want
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      • Serenity
    • 1 Star >
      • Miss Bala
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      • Happy Death Day 2U
  • Cinema Clash Podcast
  • 2018 Films
    • 4 Stars >
      • The Ballad of Buster Scruggs
      • Burning
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      • Roma
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      • American Animals
      • Avengers: Infinity War
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    • 1 Star >
      • Gauguin: Voyage to Tahiti
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      • Born Guilty
      • Kin
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  • 2017 Films
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      • Blade Runner 2049
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      • Wind River
    • 3.5 Stars >
      • Columbus
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      • Donald Cried
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      • An Inconvenient Sequel: Truth to Power
      • It
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      • The Shape of Water
      • Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets
    • 3 Stars >
      • Abacus: Small Enough to Jail
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      • The Big Sick
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      • Jeremiah Tower: The Last Magnificent
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    • 2 Stars >
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      • Buster's Mal Heart
  • 2016 Films
    • 4 Stars >
      • Captain Fantastic
      • Hell or High Water
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      • La La Land
      • A Monster Calls
      • Paterson
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    • 3.5 Stars >
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      • Cameraperson
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      • Finding Dory
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      • Moonlight
      • Nocturnal Animals
      • Whiskey Tango Foxtrot
    • 3 Stars >
      • Allied
      • Arrival
      • Author: The JT LeRoy Story
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      • Creative Control
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      • Ixcanul
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      • Lo and Behold, Reveries of the Connected World
      • The Magnificent Seven
      • Miles Ahead
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      • A Monster with a Thousand Heads
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      • War Dogs
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    • 2.5 Stars >
      • Café Society
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      • Lion
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      • Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping
      • Queen of Katwe
      • Race
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      • Sunset Song
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      • Zootopia
    • 2 Stars >
      • Alice Through the Looking Glass
      • American Pastoral
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      • The Choice
      • Dough
      • Everybody Wants Some!!
      • The Finest Hours
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    • 1.5 Stars >
      • The 5th Wave
      • Allegiant
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      • Bad Santa 2
      • The Boss
      • Central Intelligence
      • Ghostbusters
      • How to Be Single
      • The Huntsman: Winter's War
      • Ip Man 3
      • Zoolander 2
    • 1 Star >
      • Gods of Egypt
      • Ice Age: Collision Course
      • My Big Fat Greek Wedding 2
      • Now You See Me 2
      • Ratchet & Clank
      • Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows
    • 0.5 Stars >
      • Ben-Hur
      • Norm of the North
      • Ride Along 2
  • 2015 Films
    • 4 Stars >
      • The Big Short
      • Ex Machina
      • Jafar Panahi's Taxi
      • Steve Jobs
      • The Tribe
      • While We're Young
      • Youth
    • 3.5 Stars >
      • Best of Enemies
      • Bridge of Spies
      • Brooklyn
      • Clouds of Sils Maria
      • Concussion
      • The End of the Tour
      • The Hateful Eight
      • Inside Out
      • It Follows
      • Mad Max: Fury Road
      • The Man from U.N.C.L.E.
      • The Martian
      • Mistress America
      • The Revenant
      • Room
      • Shaun the Sheep Movie
      • Sisters
      • Spotlight
      • Star Wars: The Force Awakens
      • Straight Outta Compton
      • Truth
    • 3 Stars >
      • The Age of Adaline
      • Avengers: Age of Ultron
      • Black Mass
      • Carol
      • The Cut
      • Entourage
      • Fresh Dressed
      • The Good Dinosaur
      • Grandma
      • James White
      • Janis: Little Girl Blue
      • Kahlil Gibran's The Prophet
      • McFarland, USA
      • Me and Earl and the Dying Girl
      • Merchants of Doubt
      • MERU
      • Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation
      • Mustang
      • Pan
      • The Peanuts Movie
      • Pitch Perfect 2
      • Pixels
      • San Andreas
      • The Second Mother
      • Son of Saul
      • Spectre
      • Trainwreck
      • We Are Your Friends
      • Woman in Gold
    • 2.5 Stars >
      • American Ultra
      • Anomalisa
      • Ant-Man
      • The Assassin
      • The Black Panthers: Vanguard of the Revolution
      • Boulevard
      • Crimson Peak
      • The Danish Girl
      • Far from the Madding Crowd
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      • Furious 7
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      • Hippocrates: Diary of a French Doctor
      • In the Heart of the Sea
      • Jurassic World
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      • Listen to Me Marlon
      • Macbeth
      • The New Rijksmuseum
      • No Escape
      • Spy
      • The Visit
      • A Walk in the Woods
      • The Water Diviner
      • The Wolfpack
    • 2 Stars >
      • The 33
      • Aloft
      • Black Sea
      • Do I Sound Gay?
      • Fifty Shades of Grey
      • Focus
      • Freeheld
      • Get Hard
      • The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 2
      • Joy
      • Minions
      • Mississippi Grind
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      • The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel
      • Seventh Son
      • Terminator Genisys
      • Tomorrowland
      • True Story
    • 1.5 Stars >
      • Chappie
      • Desert Dancer
      • Hot Tub Time Machine 2
      • The Divergent Series: Insurgent
      • Jupiter Ascending
      • Maggie
      • Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials
      • Run All Night
      • Ted 2
      • Vacation
    • 1 Star >
      • The Lazarus Effect
      • Magic Mike XXL
      • The Transporter Refueled
    • 0.5 Stars >
      • The Gallows
  • 2014 Films
    • 4 Stars >
      • Calvary
      • A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night
      • Inherent Vice
      • The LEGO Movie
      • Life Itself
      • A Most Violent Year
      • Mr. Turner
      • The Theory of Everything
    • 3.5 Stars >
      • American Sniper
      • Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)
      • The Boxtrolls
      • Boyhood
      • The Equalizer
      • Fury
      • Gone Girl
      • Guardians of the Galaxy
      • The Imitation Game
      • Like Father, Like Son
      • Mommy
      • Nymphomaniac: Vol. I
      • Particle Fever
      • Selma
      • Top Five
      • Whiplash
    • 3 Stars >
      • 22 Jump Street
      • Alive Inside
      • Beside Still Waters
      • The Book of Life
      • Captain America: The Winter Soldier
      • The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby: THEM
      • Draft Day
      • Edge of Tomorrow
      • Get on Up
      • Godzilla
      • The Grand Budapest Hotel
      • The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies
      • I Am Ali
      • The Judge
      • Kill the Messenger
      • Locke
      • Love Is Strange
      • Nas: Time Is Illmatic
      • Night Moves
      • The November Man
      • The One I Love
      • The Overnighters
      • The Raid 2
      • Rosewater
      • Sin City: A Dame to Kill For
      • St. Vincent
      • Still Alice
      • Supermensch: The Legend of Shep Gordon
      • Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
      • Two Days, One Night
      • Unbroken
      • Under the Skin
      • Wild
      • X-Men: Days of Future Past
    • 2.5 Stars >
      • 3 Days to Kill
      • About Last Night
      • Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day
      • Art and Craft
      • As Above, So Below
      • Begin Again
      • Blood Ties
      • Dawn of the Planet of the Apes
      • Divergent
      • The Expendables 3
      • Fading Gigolo
      • Foxcatcher
      • The Giver
      • The Grand Seduction
      • Horns
      • Horrible Bosses 2
      • The Hundred-Foot Journey
      • Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit
      • Jersey Boys
      • Listen Up Philip
      • Magic in the Moonlight
      • The Maze Runner
      • Men, Women & Children
      • A Million Ways to Die in the West
      • The Monuments Men
      • Mr. Peabody & Sherman
      • Muppets Most Wanted
      • Need for Speed
      • Non-Stop
      • Point and Shoot
      • RoboCop
      • Tracks
      • Transcendence
      • Veronica Mars
      • Winter's Tale
    • 2 Stars >
      • 300: Rise of an Empire
      • Alan Partridge
      • The Amazing Spider-Man 2
      • The Art of the Steal
      • Big Hero 6
      • Blended
      • Exodus: Gods and Kings
      • The French Minister
      • Hellion
      • The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 1
      • Into the Storm
      • Into the Woods
      • John Wick
      • Laggies
      • Land Ho!
      • A Long Way Down
      • Lucy
      • Maleficent
      • Neighbors
      • Noah
      • The Nut Job
      • Oculus
      • Rio 2
      • That Awkward Moment
      • What If
      • When the Game Stands Tall
      • Wish I Was Here
    • 1.5 Stars >
      • Big Eyes
      • The Fault in Our Stars
      • I, Frankenstein
      • Pompeii
      • Transformers: Age of Extinction
    • 1 Star >
      • Brick Mansions
      • The Identical
      • Ride Along
      • Son of God
      • Tusk
      • Vampire Academy
    • 0.5 Stars >
      • Left Behind
      • The Legend of Hercules
      • Paranormal Activity: The Marked Ones
    • Zero Stars >
      • A Haunted House 2
  • 2013 Films
    • 4 Stars >
      • 12 Years A Slave
      • Frances Ha
      • The Gatekeepers
      • Gravity
      • Her
      • Lone Survivor
      • Much Ado About Nothing
      • Stoker
      • We Steal Secrets: The Story of Wikileaks
    • 3.5 Stars >
      • All Is Lost
      • August: Osage County
      • Before Midnight
      • The Bling Ring
      • Captain Phillips
      • Fruitvale Station
      • God Loves Uganda
      • The Great Beauty
      • Inside Llewyn Davis
      • The Patience Stone
      • The Wolf of Wall Street
      • You're Next
    • 3 Stars >
      • Ain't Them Bodies Saints
      • American Hustle
      • The Company You Keep
      • Dead Man Down
      • Deceptive Practice: The Mysteries and Mentors of Ricky Jay
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      • Ender's Game
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      • Thanks for Sharing
      • Thor: The Dark World
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    • 2.5 Stars >
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      • The Book Thief
      • Carrie
      • Emperor
      • Fast & Furious 6
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      • In a World...
      • Love Is All You Need
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    • 2 Stars >
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      • G.I. Joe: Retaliation
      • Gangster Squad
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      • Now You See Me
    • 1.5 Stars >
      • Drinking Buddies
      • The Family
      • Girl Most Likely
      • Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters
      • The Incredible Burt Wonderstone
      • The Lone Ranger
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    • 1 Star >
      • The Hangover Part III
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  • 2012 Films
    • 4 Stars >
      • Argo
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    • 3 Stars >
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    • 2.5 Stars >
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    • 2 Stars >
      • The Deep Blue Sea
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    • 1.5 Stars >
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    • 1 Star >
      • 2 Days in New York
  • 2011 Films
    • 4 Stars >
      • Another Earth
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    • 2.5 Stars >
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    • 1.5 Stars >
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      • Martha Marcy May Marlene
      • One Day
      • Priest
      • Restless
    • 1 Star >
      • The Three Musketeers
      • Toast
      • Transformers: Dark of the Moon
  • Misc...
    • 2018 AFI DOCS Film Festival
    • 2017 Middleburg Film Festival
    • 2016 Middleburg Film Festival
  • Review Index
  • About Me

The Big Sick

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Directed by: Michael Showalter
Written by: Kumail Nanjiani & Emily V. Gordon
Starring: Kumail Nanjiani, Zoe Kazan, Holly Hunter, Ray Romano, Anupam Kher, Zenobia Shroff, Adeel Akhtar, Aidy Bryant, Bo Burnham, Kurt Braunohler, Vella Lovell, Myra Lucretia Taylor, Jeremy Shamos, David Alan Grier, Ed Herbstman
Comedy/Romance - 119 min          Reviewed by Charlie Juhl on 29 Jun 2017 

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I appreciate comedies about stand-up comics.  They can be documentaries like Jerry Seinfeld’s Comedian (2002) and Conan O’Brien Can’t Stop (2011), topical like The Aristocrats (2005), cross the line into drama like Funny People (2009) and Obvious Child (2014), or even go autobiographical like Mike Birbiglia’s Sleepwalk with Me (2012).  Kumail Nanjiani’s The Big Sick is a cross between autobiography and dramatic tendencies.  What I thought was going to be a light-hearted but culturally sensitive rom-com pulls a titanic shift and switches tracks into hospital drama territory, somehow incorporating humor along with the tears.  Even at its most dire points, The Big Sick goes for laughs as it tells a somewhat true version of how Nanjiani met, fell in love with, and sat by his wife’s sick bed.

Kumail Nanjiani (Central Intelligence) plays a version of his younger self, even using his own name.  We watch him play small comedy clubs trying to make a name in the Chicago comedy scene.  It’s a fine start to the film watching a group of comedians rip each other backstage with constructive criticism such as, “He’s like Daniel Day-Lewis, but he sucks.”  We also meet Kumail’s conservative Muslim, Pakistani family who gives him some leeway to pursue his stand-up dreams but reminds him what awaits him down the road, a real profession like the law and an arranged marriage.  Kumail’s mother, Sharmeen (Zenobia Shroff), scores with her own not subtle at all dig when she says, “You know who I think should stand up is Malala.”  Score one for mom.

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The Big Sick’s first act is pure meet cute, awkward dating, and probing whether this is the person for you.  You know you are truly courting when you learn your new girlfriend does in fact have bowel movements; a stark realization all new Cupid-infatuated couples must confront.  Kumail’s girlfriend, Emily (Zoe Kazan, What If), easily holds her own against the man attempting to become a professional comic.  Undergoing the routine, but crucial, examination on whether or not she likes the same movies Kumail is obsessed with, she wryly observes, “I love it when men test my taste.” ​

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The cultural barrier inevitably breaks Kumail and Emily apart as she realizes he will never tell his family about the white girl he’s seeing and the cliché that he will eventually marry a Pakistani girl crushes his future.  Kumail’s brother, Naveed (Adeel Akhtar, Pan), empathizes with his younger brother about experimenting with the local girls before the inevitable marriage arrangements, but he assures him love will grow later on.  Since The Big Sick is at its heart a comedy, the brothers have this conversation in a diner where they promise the family at the next table they hate terrorists after they raise their voices at one another.

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I assumed The Big Sick was going to end up in a standard comic narrative routine whereby Kumail would make his apology to Emily on stage during a bit and ‘come out’ to his family that he’s in romantic love with an American girl.  Oh, how wrong I was.  So fast you may experience whiplash, Emily is hospitalized and put into a medically-induced coma.  Her parents (Holly Hunter; Song to Song and Ray Romano; Ice Age: Collision Course) show up and the next hour follows Kumail hesitantly and awkwardly attempting to establish a rapport with them.  The parents, already in on the fact Emily and Kumail are no longer together, take a while to puzzle out why Kumail persistently lurks around the hospital, but their eventual détente and mutual understanding hints at that familiar Judd Apatow heart we usually see from his films.  Apatow is a producer here and gave Nanjiani the opportunity to make this film.

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Nanjiani co-wrote the script with his wife, the real Emily, and it sold for a bundle at Sundance to Amazon Studios.  Director Michael Showalter follows in Apatow’s Funny People footsteps, The Big Sick is deeper than you know going in and about 15 minutes too long.  Also, for such a fresh rom-com narrative, The Big Sick is an off-putting, clumsy title.  It fails to hint at Kumail’s introspection, the film’s main arc.  While watching Emily lay motionless in a coma, Kumail asks the big questions:  who am I, how am I as a boyfriend, a son, a Muslim?  The Big Sick doesn’t stand out from its rom-com peers merely because Nanjiani is not the white, Christian male archetype Hollywood normally puts in this role, it’s because it uses humor to lead the audience through some heavy shit.  The autobiographical stand-up film was a risk, but we all come out of it a bit more appreciative on the other side.

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