a review of 大病

The Big Sick is one of those formulaic feel-good movies to which I'm a bit allergic. All of the hackneyed ingredients are present. There's a disarming main character, there's a girl who's initially not really into him, her decent parents who start to like him, the necessary drama and hurdles, and the happy ending you knew would follow eventually. I like Kumail Nanjiani, knowing him from Mike Judge's Silicon Valley series, and I liked his character in The Big Sick. I just couldn't stand his love interest, a spoiled, bored, whiny drama queen suffering from 'vocal fry', who is supposed to be as likeable as Nanjiani's character. Some of the supporting actors also irritated me a bit, mainly the other stand-up comedians. The girl's parents were okay, particularly the father did a good job portraying a boring but good-hearted guy. All in all, The Big Sick is a reasonably charming film, but the lack of true chemistry between the main characters and the feel-good cliches made the film feel forced at times.