The Big Sick and The War Movie

I went to two movies this past week, selecting them based on reviews. One was okay and the other one I walked out on after the first hour.

The Big Sick is a "true" story about a male comedian and his girlfriend, and relies on the cultural contrast between an American girl and a Pakistani boy who meet, date, and fall in love. The story is well-told and moves along nicely, but the language always detracts from my enjoyment of any film, and this film has filthy language.

Dunkirk is also a "true" story about soldiers needing to be evacuated from war. It tells three different stories at the same time, which is probably the biggest fault with the film. Trying to blend three stories into one is always tricky, but there are ways to do it that are seamless; in this film, however, there is no blending. It's challenging to leave the continuity of the narrative up to the viewer to make happen, and I found it distracting at first, and then just plain annoying. About an hour in, I told my movie buddy I was going to leave -- and she, the one who never walks out of a movie, left with me, sharing the same complaints that I had about the film.

I know that these two films will be considered for awards nominations, but while The Big Sick could maybe be an award-winner because most people overlook the foul language, I would be greatly disappointed if Dunkirk won any awards because it's just not that good.