MY BIG FAT GREEK WEDDING

Starring: Nia Vardalos, John Corbett, Lainie Kazan and Joey Fatone
Director: Joel Zwick
Running Time: 95 mins
Certificate: PG

Out to buy on DVD 24th March

Toula (Vardalos) needs to change her life. She has just hit thirty and is stuck working in her father's restaurant. Her Mother and Father's only wish is for her to marry a nice Greek boy and have children but Toula wants more than this. Giving herself a make over and taking a computer course, she turns her life around. Then she meets Ian (Corbett) and instantly falls in love. The problem for Toula is that Ian is not Greek and no one in her family has ever had a relationship with a non-Greek before, never mind tried to marry one.

This movie was a huge hit in the US and you have to wonder why. There is absolutely nothing new here. No unique take on the romantic comedy genre, no completely new jokes, no twist at the end, nothing. So why has it been such a hit, I just can't figure it out. One possible answer is, where the rest of the summer 2002 big hitters have been aimed at a younger cinemagoer, this movie plays to the thirty plus audience in the months when they are not really catered for.

The movie itself has nothing original to offer. Playing on extreme Greek stereotypes for cheap laughs at their cultural expense, the film is nothing more than average at best. If you have seen the trailer, then you have seen most of the best jokes and the plot is neither engrossing nor surprising.

John Corbett is on autopilot throughout and his character is so accommodating to Toula's religious and family needs he seems more like a male order groom than a leading man. He never questions any of her family's grievances against him and never argues about the things he has to do to fit in with the Greek way of life. Nia Vardalos transforms from an ugly duckling to a Greek princess with ease and plays her part well, as you'd expect as she wrote the movie, but surrounding herself with comic Greek family stereotypes takes something away from her leading lady performance.

All in all this is an extremely average movie that is low on plot and most importantly, laughs. Why it did so well in the US could be one of the biggest mysteries in movie history.

Trailer, Cast & Filmmaker Feature, Commentary, Soundbites, Cast Biographies, Production Notes and "Greek School" Trivia Track