The subtly implied, schmaltz-free happy ending is one of romcom screenwriting’s magnum effectum. Executed well, it makes tear ducts behave like windscreen sprayers. It can also persuade cinemagoers, in future, to rush for the exit at the first sign of the two protagonists dashing towards each other in a packed street — hopefully making it to the popcorn stand seconds before the smooching embrace begins. It can also, albeit momentarily, make films about unripened romance (Lost in Translation, Brief Encounter) feel cold. (Don’t even start me on the deft-but-cruel emotional toying of The Graduate’s denouement.)
A movie that hit the bullseye with guided-missile precision was released in 2017. For those who haven’t encountered it, The Big Sick — described by The Guardian as “a stranger-than-fiction date movie of enormous charm and sweetness” — starred this issue’s cover star, Kumail Nanjiani, as a reluctant Chicago-based Uber driver and aspiring stand-up who embarks on a romance with an audience member, a white psychology student, Emily. Pressured by his Pakistani parents, who are cajoling him into a law career and an arranged marriage, he initially gives in and chooses their way over his own.
“I’d not expected anybody to watch the movie. When they did, it was like, Oh, now I have to answer all these questions.”
The standard romcom template, which hit its popularity peak in the nineties, goes as follows: boy meets girl; boy upsets girl, causing estrangement; boy reunites with girl. Such is the sandwich structure here, but this time the filling has a more bittersweet flavour. Having expressed his family’s reservations about their still-budding romance to his new belle, Emily develops a serious lung infection and is placed in an induced coma. Her condition worsens, as a result of adult-onset Still’s disease — an autoimmune condition that can have life-threatening complications. Not so much standard romcom as Four Beddings and a Funeral.
One of the highest-grossing independent films of 2017, , which received a best original screenplay Oscar nomination, would melt the stoniest of hearts. Its poignancy ramps up considerably, though, when one discovers that the film is a barely
