Writers: Emily V. Gordon, Kumail Nanjiani
DOP: Brian Burgoyne
Cast: Kumail Nanjiani, Zoe Kazan, Holly Hunter, Ray Romano
Pakistan-born comedian Kumail Nanjiani and grad student Emily Gardner fall in love but struggle as their cultures clash. When Emily contract a mysterious illness, Kumail finds himself forced to face her feisty parents, his family's expectations, and his true feelings.
The story is based on Kumail's real life and his wife had co-written the story with him for the film. I had read about it (a Vanity Fair article I think) prior to watching the film and so the plot progression was already spoiled for me. That, coupled with me watching this film in an Insomniac mood ensured that it was underwhelming experience for me. There are just too many cliches and I felt it was too dumbed down, especially the cultural aspects. It doesn't help that Anupam Kher is an annoying little prick of a man due to his shitty politics which I can't just get past. One good thing about the film is that they don't take the 'stand-up comedian as protagonist' license to pad it up with funny stuff. He is in the struggling phase of his career and that is quite well portrayed.
Film's best bits are when the girl is in a coma in the hospital. The lead up to the breakup was not that convincing for me. Film was acquired by Amazon after it got premiered at the Sundance Film Festival. It did quite well at box office and garnered overwhelmingly positive critical response as well. That doesn't really mean anything for a film like this and Slumdog Millionaire is a case in point.
Rating: 2.75/5
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