My Big Fat Greek Wedding
Directed by Joel Zwick.
Starring Nia Vardalos (also writer), John Corbett.
It’s easy to see why My Big Fat Greek Wedding has been such a hit in the USA, it’s the kind of film the whole ethnic family can enjoy. My overall feeling of it is that the Yanks got a copy of Wog Boy, toned it down, added some more attractive people (apologies to Nick Giannopolis) and turned up the schmaltz.
Toula is a nice frumpy Greek girl who realises that her life is going to be one of working in her parents’ restaurant until she dies if she doesn’t change things soon. She sets out to take control of her life and find happiness. This begins with losing the coke bottle glasses, dressing well, and doing a computer course at the local college.
Being a Greek girl means that you have to manage your father. Through careful manipulation by her mother and aunt, her father decides that it would be better for her to work outside the restaurant and Toula starts working at a travel agency. This is where Ian Miller (played by John Corbett of Sex In the City) notices her and they begin a romance. As all of us know, an ethnic girl can’t do that kind of thing without the family finding out, and soon her decision to see a non-Greek boy begins to rock the foundations of her family. But this is a comedy, so it never gets too serious. I do have to say that the romance angle was very sweet and had a genuine feel to it.
As the title implies, a wedding is soon being planned and American and Greek-American cultures are compared, contrasted and laughed at — all in the most inoffensive manner.
Well, I liked this film, but sadly it’s no Looking for Alibrandi, and it is pitched at an older audience. Your mum will also like this film, so if you want something nice to take her out to, here it is.
ESther
