My Big Fat Greek Wedding Review
by Rose 'Bams' Cooper (bams AT 3blackchicks DOT com)June 18th, 2002
'3BlackChicks Review...'
MY BIG FAT GREEK WEDDING (2002)
Rated PG; running time 95 minutes
Studio: IFC Films
Genre: Romantic Comedy
Seen at: Celebration Cinema (Lansing, Michigan)
Official site: http://movies.yahoo.com/greekwedding/
IMDB site: http://us.imdb.com/Details?0259446
Written by: Nia Vardalos (based on her one-woman play) Directed by: Joel Zwick
Cast: Nia Vardalos, John Corbett, Michael Constantine, Lainie Kazan, Andrea Martin, Louis Mandylor, Joey Fatone, Gia Carides, Fiona Reid, Bruce Gray, Ian Gomez
Review Copyright Rose Cooper, 2002
Review URL: http://www.3blackchicks.com/2002reviews/bamsgreekwed.html
Of necessity, I went to see movies in the space of one afternoon. Never an easy task even if all three were hella good, I took on the bad BAD COMPANY and the yo-yoish YA-YA SISTERHOOD first, leaving MY BIG FAT GREEK WEDDING to the end. Did I save the best for last, or just prolong my agony?
THE STORY (WARNING: **spoilers contained below**)
Plain jane Toula Portokalos (Nia Vardalos) was almost resigned to live out her life the way her highly Greek culture-centric father Gus (Michael Constantine) envisioned it: married with children, and part of the family restaurant, along with her brother Nick (Louis Mandylor) and cousins Nikki (Gia Carides) and Angelo (Joey Fatone). But Toula wants something more out of life; she and mother Maria (Lainie Kazan) convince Gus to let Toula go to college to "study computers", and work in the travel agency her Aunt Voula (Andrea Martin) owns. Toula also changes her look, having been convinced from childhood that blondes had way more fun than big swarthy girls like her. With Toula's new attitude on life, she sets out to become an independent woman...
..but after all that, love smacks Toula hard in the face, in the person of Ian Miller (John Corbett). The decidedly non-Greek Ian Miller. Sure, Gus wanted Toula married...but to a good Greek boy, oy! Uh, sorry, wrong culture.
THE UPSHOT
Maybe, after having spent hours in the same theater, my resistance was worn down, but I found MY BIG FAT GREEK WEDDING charming, sweet, and most of all, funny as hell, especially where Michael Constantine was concerned. The man had me rollin' - rollin', I say - with his very Afrocentric-like way of bringing everything back to Greek culture, and especially with his cure-all Windex. I'll never look at household cleansers the same way again.
Constantine's was but one of a cast-full of good performances. Nia Vardalos and John Corbett were good enough, but the supporting cast made the movie for me. Lainie Kazan (who I swore was Jewish) stood shoulder-to-shoulder with Constantine, deftly avoiding a few Doting Mother stereotypes along the way. Louis Mandylor (who I swore was Italian) and - surprise surprise - Joey Fatone of the Backwoods Boys (or is it N'Stink?) were fun as family members who playfully yank Ian's chain. And kudos to Fiona Reid and Bruce Gray, for approaching the role of Ian's whitebread WASP parents with just the right touch of subtlety.
What I liked most about MY BIG FAT GREEK WEDDING was what I thought I'd criticize it most for: its lack of pretense. There could've been a lot more depth to this movie and its underlying storylines of cultural separatism, the pressure to conform, the will to improve one's lot in life, and final acceptance of self. But in the end, MY BIG FAT GREEK WEDDING is what it says it is: a funny story about a culturally-Greek girl, getting hitched. Can't fault a story for being true to itself, eh?
Still, the real irony is that actor Ian Gomez (playing character Ian Miller's friend Mike) is writer/actor Nia Vardalos' real-life husband. Funny, that a movie about acceptance, based on a true story, features a studly actor when the real not-so-studly person involved, was present. Almost as funny as the obviously re-touched poster featuring Vardolos, compared to how she looks in the movie itself. But that's Hollyweird for ya.
BAMMER'S BOTTOM LINE
Pardon the bad pun, but this flick was most def not Greek to me.
MY BIG FAT GREEK WEDDING rating: greenlight
Rose "Bams" Cooper
Webchick and Editor,
3BlackChicks Review
Entertainment Reviews With Flava!
Copyright Rose Cooper, 2002
EMAIL: [email protected]
http://www.3blackchicks.com/
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