My Big Fat Greek Wedding (Special Edition)
Starring: Gia Carides, Michael Constantine, John Corbett, Christina Eleusiniotis, Joey FatoneStudio: Hbo Home Video
MPAA Rating: PG (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Format: AC-3, Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, DVD-Video, Special Edition, Widescreen, NTSC
Running Time: 95 minutes
DVD Release: December 31st 2007
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DVD Review
(Romantic Comedy) Toula Portokalos is a devoted daughter in a big, crazy Greek family. Working at her father's restaurant, she hides behind a mop of mousy brown hair and thick glasses, keeping her family close and the world at a distance. But one day, she finds herself pouring coffee for a man so strikingly good-looking, that he inspires her to change her life -- and the way she sees the world -- forever.
DVD Features:
Audio Commentary
Other:The Making of Rags to Riches CD bonus disc with contemporary wedding songs
User Reviews
Intelligent and Humorous - Rating: 5/5
It seems like it's harder and harder for the film industry to come up with something original. In many cases you can point to a film and list multiple movies in the same genre, and often the current movie is either a direct remake or a thinly veiled remake. Not so with "My Big Fat Greek Wedding."
Nia Vardalos plays Toula Portokalos, a rather frumpy Greek-American. Her family is somewhat stereotypical. However, the stereotype, while extreme, is within the realm of truth. Having been involved deeply with people from other countries, I have observed that quite often they see everything in terms of their own nation. What Gus Portokalos has on his garage door is hilarious, as one example.
Toula is 30 years old, and single; a near death sentence in her Greek family where woman are expected to marry young, feed everyone, and make more Greek babies (according to Toula). While working as a "seating hostess" in her father's restaurant, she meets Ian Miller, played by John Corbett. The sparks begin to fly almost immediately. After several creative scenes, Ian and Toula finally date, and quickly grow to love each other.
Toula's family is a riot. Because her family is very large, and very close, her extended family includes dozens of members. The two characters that stood out in my mind are Michael Constantine as Gus Portokalos, and Andrea Martin (of the long-defunct SCTV) as Aunt Voula. You may recognize other actors, but virtually every scene with Aunt Voula was funny, and Gus Portokalos as the supposed head of the family was easily manipulated by the real heads of the family, the women, making many of his scenes very funny.
This movie is not the slapstick buffoonery we see in other contemporary comedies such as those by Eddie Murphy. Here the humor is the contrast between the too pure-white, upper middle class, and small family of Ian Miller and the richly patriotic, ethnically cohesive, and large family of Toula Portokalos. Toula's huge and relatively bizarre family overwhelms the Millers. For example, the Portokalos hold an outdoor barbecue on their front lawn with hundreds of people. "Whatever would the neighbors think" would be the typical reaction of many people in many middle class neighborhoods. The Portokalos interpret (or try) everything the Millers do by their own standard. Both families are clueless regarding the other and our objective view of both families give us the opportunity to find the humor in how little each knows about the other.
Ian finds Toula to be interesting. Similarly, Toula finds something about Ian interesting. Each feels that the other offers something different. That differences are multiple, in terms of lifestyle, personality and expectations. The viewer should not expect Toula to become Cinderella. She does not and can not, and Ian is not looking for Cinderella. In fact, Ian may be looking for non-Cinderella. Regardless, she is Ian's princess, and that's what truly counts.
I particularly enjoyed the ending of the movie. There is a point as the movie nears the end where we realize that while the differences between the families and the lifestyles are large, ultimately both families have common interests. For me that key moment pulled the whole movie together, explaining that the point of the movie, after highlighting the differences between the characters and their families, was that we all pretty much want and like the same or similar things. Because I was personally touched by this moment, I'll let the viewers see for themselves what that moment might be, which may be different for them.
This movie is not a wildly hilarious slapstick comedy. Instead, its humor is unabashedly ethnic-based. However, its stereotypes are not generally derogatory, any more so than those of say, "National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation" with Chevy Chase. But this movie will make you smile, and the touching moments will make you feel good. An intelligent movie that relies on simple story-telling, this movie deserved the accolades it received, and earns a 5-star rating.
