That awkward moment when you and your girlfriend break up and then you find out she’s in the hospital, comatose, and you’re forced to hang out with her parents who hate you while she hangs on, selfishly unaware, for dear life.

That may not be the exact tone the hilarious and heartwarming comedy The Big Sick takes, but oh well: the film is one of the must-see movies of the summer. Writers Kumail Nanjiani and Emily V. Gordon draw from the real events of how they eventually wound up together, obviously embellishing for the audience’s sake.

Nanjiani plays himself while Emily is brought to screen by Zoe Kazan; Holly Hunter and Ray Romano also star as Emily’s parents. The cast has amazing chemistry with one another, perhaps in part thanks to Nanjiani’s awkwardly likable delivery that makes it hard not to love him. Nanjiani establishes himself as a comedic force to be reckoned with; no doubt further films for the Pakistani comedian will follow.

As funny as The Big Sick is, and as much as it’s willing to prod and poke at everything from hospital humor to 9/11 (“What do you think about 9/11?” - “I am anti-9/11. We lost 19 of our best men.”), the movie also has a big heart. Nanjiani and Kazan have great chemistry together, but Nanjiani also clicks extremely well with Hunter and Romano; the dynamic between the three (while Emily is in a coma) is just as engaging as the scenes between the two lovebirds. Scenes with Nanjiani’s family are also entertaining.

Unfortunately, the film isn’t perfect: The Big Sick suffers from The Lord of the Rings Ending Syndrome, meaning that Nanjiani and Gordon draw out the inevitable for about 10 minutes longer than they needed to. The screenwriters take us through a seemingly endless cycle of unnecessary scenes establishing that Emily didn’t just take Kumail back right away. It’s a shame, because otherwise The Big Sick is nearly flawless.

Review by Erik Samdahl unless otherwise indicated.