My Big Fat Greek Wedding - A Review 01/20/2003
What a pleasant surprise! This warm, funny, sometimes-a-bit-too-close-to-home film has come out of nowhere to gross over $230 million dollars in the U.S. alone. What did it cost to make? $15-20 million? Nope, try $5 million - yes, $5 million dollars. That figure won't even get "Ahnold" or Bruce Willis to get out of bed. What's the point you say? Just that a good story and quality acting can still shine in today's Hollywood of $100 million budgets, explosions, CGI and bad stories.
This tale is about a young Greek woman in Chicago that dreams of better things than her life as a single waitress in the family restuarant (Greek, of course). Directed by Joel Zwick (Adventures In Babysitting, Second Sight), it stars Nia Vardalos (No Experience Necessary, Men Seeking Women) as Toula Portokalos in the role of our herione. Nia is also credited as the writer and she excels in both roles. I immediately connected with her character and felt every twist and turn of her story. Michael Constantine (The Hustler, Beau Geste, The Juror) is wonderful as Gus, Nia's weary put-upon father, and Lainie Kazan (My Favorite Year, Harry & The Hendersons, Beaches) is delightfully warm and strong as Maria, the mother. John Corbett (Northern Exposure, Tombstone, Serendipity) is Ian Miller, a young handsome teacher that is looking for something more in a woman. A fine supporting cast of actors and actresses you've seen in movies for years (but don't know their names) put in little gems all through the film.
Can you tell that I liked this movie?
As far as visuals, this is a character-driven story, so put away any notions of action, guns, CGI or the such. We're in a Chicago neighborhood and that's where we're going to stay. Occasionally, the picture seemed soft, softer than even the mood called for - I don't know if this was a directoral choice or a condition of my theater's media and projector. The audio was un-exceptional too. It allowed the story to be told without being noticed. Dialog was clear and understandable throughout.
What made this movie so enjoyable? If you are fortunate enough to have come from a large, eccentric, extended family, it lets you go back and re-live many of the moments (memorable and not-so) in your life. If you came from another kind of environment, it opens up to you the feeling, the sense of what it would be like to be there and how wonderful (and frustrating) it can be to have so many people around that want to "help" you in making the decisions in your life. Toula wants more. Every day she goes to the restaurant and every day she dreams of doing more. College. working in a travel agency. Meeting Mr. Right instead of the "good Greek boys" her dad keeps pushing her toward. Getting a little further away from her married-with-kids sister and her brother who has dreams of his own. Ian is a teacher who is looking for someone he can believe in, someone who is more than just a pretty face and a nice body. Can they come together? If they do, can they overcome the hurdles of Ian not being Greek?
I started smiling about 2 minutes into this film and pretty much didn't stop all the way through. Coming from an extended, caring East-Texas farming family, I saw way too many of my relatives up there and couldn't help but draw similarities between them and the characters on screen - it was great! I wasn't really sure what to expect when I walked in, but on walking out, I was already preparing to tell all my friends to see this movie. It's well worth your time. I give My Big Fat Greek Wedding :4: out of :5:.
David - HTGuide flunky
Our "Theater"
Our DVDs on DVD Tracker
What a pleasant surprise! This warm, funny, sometimes-a-bit-too-close-to-home film has come out of nowhere to gross over $230 million dollars in the U.S. alone. What did it cost to make? $15-20 million? Nope, try $5 million - yes, $5 million dollars. That figure won't even get "Ahnold" or Bruce Willis to get out of bed. What's the point you say? Just that a good story and quality acting can still shine in today's Hollywood of $100 million budgets, explosions, CGI and bad stories.
This tale is about a young Greek woman in Chicago that dreams of better things than her life as a single waitress in the family restuarant (Greek, of course). Directed by Joel Zwick (Adventures In Babysitting, Second Sight), it stars Nia Vardalos (No Experience Necessary, Men Seeking Women) as Toula Portokalos in the role of our herione. Nia is also credited as the writer and she excels in both roles. I immediately connected with her character and felt every twist and turn of her story. Michael Constantine (The Hustler, Beau Geste, The Juror) is wonderful as Gus, Nia's weary put-upon father, and Lainie Kazan (My Favorite Year, Harry & The Hendersons, Beaches) is delightfully warm and strong as Maria, the mother. John Corbett (Northern Exposure, Tombstone, Serendipity) is Ian Miller, a young handsome teacher that is looking for something more in a woman. A fine supporting cast of actors and actresses you've seen in movies for years (but don't know their names) put in little gems all through the film.
Can you tell that I liked this movie?
As far as visuals, this is a character-driven story, so put away any notions of action, guns, CGI or the such. We're in a Chicago neighborhood and that's where we're going to stay. Occasionally, the picture seemed soft, softer than even the mood called for - I don't know if this was a directoral choice or a condition of my theater's media and projector. The audio was un-exceptional too. It allowed the story to be told without being noticed. Dialog was clear and understandable throughout.
What made this movie so enjoyable? If you are fortunate enough to have come from a large, eccentric, extended family, it lets you go back and re-live many of the moments (memorable and not-so) in your life. If you came from another kind of environment, it opens up to you the feeling, the sense of what it would be like to be there and how wonderful (and frustrating) it can be to have so many people around that want to "help" you in making the decisions in your life. Toula wants more. Every day she goes to the restaurant and every day she dreams of doing more. College. working in a travel agency. Meeting Mr. Right instead of the "good Greek boys" her dad keeps pushing her toward. Getting a little further away from her married-with-kids sister and her brother who has dreams of his own. Ian is a teacher who is looking for someone he can believe in, someone who is more than just a pretty face and a nice body. Can they come together? If they do, can they overcome the hurdles of Ian not being Greek?
I started smiling about 2 minutes into this film and pretty much didn't stop all the way through. Coming from an extended, caring East-Texas farming family, I saw way too many of my relatives up there and couldn't help but draw similarities between them and the characters on screen - it was great! I wasn't really sure what to expect when I walked in, but on walking out, I was already preparing to tell all my friends to see this movie. It's well worth your time. I give My Big Fat Greek Wedding :4: out of :5:.
David - HTGuide flunky
Our "Theater"
Our DVDs on DVD Tracker
Comment