My Big Fat Greek Wedding (2002)

Waste of time

A lot of perfectly good film show their cards early, establish a unique premise and let the audience explore a topic at a leisurely pace, without much in terms of surprise. this film is not one of those films.

This is one of the few movies I've ever seen where the whole audience broke into spontaneous, loud applause a third of the way in.

It really made me laugh, but for some moments I was tearing up because I could relate so much.

*** This review contains spoilers ***My Big Fat Greek Wedding Review There is a big family who lives in Chicago even though they all are brought up to be strictly Greek. Father of the family is Gus which is very racist of Greek and her daughter and other members of the family are Voula, Yiayia, Maria, Nick Portokalos living the same home together. Our main character Toula Portokalas is a woman who is 30 years and not married yet. She lives in America but grows in the totally Greek family. Her father is so Greek that he can even turn 'kimono' means into Greek version. Toula has a brother and sister. Her sister is a traditional Greek woman who has many kids and a Greek husband, on the other hand, Toula hasn't. Her parents want her to marry with Greek man and has kids as far as possible like her sister, but she is little bit introverted and shy person until she meets with Ian Miller who is an American man Miller Ian. Miller Ian's life and background are a little bit different from Toula's. He has very small and separated family when I compare with the Greek family. His parents are not obsessive of racism or religion. Also, Miller does not care about Toula at the beginning of the movie because of her strange appearance and altitude but later Toula starts to be a real woman then she grabs Miller's attention. When they are together I observed that different background and lifestyle of Toula makes her attractive and irresistible to Miller. The more they date the more they get closer which means Families need to meet but Greek family and American family are totally different from each other. Thus, Toula and Miller have a really difficult job in terms of cultures conflict. Taula was going to introduce Miller to her family but one relative sees them together in the car while they are kissing. Then all family hear it and come home. Taula's father gets mad that Miller is not a Greek man and does not accept him as a groom. After that day, Family starts to look for different grooms but Taula still loves Miller so much and Miller introduces her to his family. She looks so nervous because Miller's parents are not talkative and lively like her parents. Also, they cannot even pronounce Taula's surname because it is so long and they are not accustomed to hearing it in their daily life but at least they respect her and accept her as a bride. Then Taula's family is persuaded because they see that her little daughter really loves Miller and wants to marry only with him. Miller, Taula, and parents come together and celebrate Easter. In this part of the film, I realized that Miller feels so happy with this strange and noisy family because he has not a family like that. After celebrity, in a short span of time they marry and Father Gus buy them a house as a wedding gift. In my opinion, 'house' is a symbol and it represents that Greek family really adopt and accept him to their big family. The movie ends like this now I want to write about culture concept in this movie. As far as I observe that Greek's daily life and expectations are the same as ours. For example, someone says 'I prepared moussaka tonight for you'. I really know that this is actually our food. This is probably because of so many interactions of two different cultures. The more Greek and Turkish cultures conflict and interact, the more our cultures get similar to each other as we observe here, on the other hand, American's culture is very different from Greek culture. The American family is a little bit calm and they don't live in big families as Greek and Turkish families. Apart from this, the structure of the family is also the same with Greek people. For example, Greek family is also crowded and depended on each other like us. They live together in the same house. Even the altitude of the mother is same. For example, Turkish mother acts as if the guest was starving even though S/he is not. This is because both cultures are welcoming to guests. It was like that in the movie. Until this movie, I have never known that Turkish and Greek cultures are close like this. Another similarity is getting married off. In Turkey, if you are mature people who have a great job, you need to marry with someone like in the movie. Until this movie, I guess that we are the only ones supporting marriage after a particular age, but I think it is good to hear other voices. Other similarities between two cultures are music. I feel like I am watching a Turkish series. Especially in the wedding ceremony, the tone is very Islamic and they say 'amin' instead of 'amen'. Also Greeks like eating meat like us that's why they feel shocked when they hear that Miller is vegetarian. I learned that Greek and Turkish cultures are so similar with the help of this movie. To sum up, people from different background and cultures can get on well with each other and people should not be prejudged. As far as I observe If you are racist and nationalist to people maybe you cannot realize and see the good part of them. As Gus says Toula can be 'Portokalos' which means orange and Miller can be 'apple' but they are all fruits.

A young Greek woman falls in love with a non-Greek and struggles to get her family to accept him while she comes to terms with her heritage and cultural identity. Just saw my Big Fat Greek Wedding and as a Greek i thought it was excellent it respects the culture of my country but also it respects the things that we do as a country you know Easter, dance or even some Greek songs and lines. It also succeeds on the romance Nia Vardalos and John Corbett have a really great and sweet chemistry together that shows up in every scene. Also the families both of Toula and Ian are pretty hilarious especially the Greek family but also Ian's family who gets addicted with Ouzo by the end of the film. A very very great movie that even if you aren't a Greek i think you are going to like because it's a great movie in general.

This blockbuster movie was a sleeper release. A movie for the entire family and filled with fun and laughter for every one. A loud, obnoxious Greek family is all you need to make this storyline work. One girl trying to break free of the smothering love of a family falls in love with a non-Greek and breaks all the molds.I recommend for the entire family to see this movie and I believe it to be an instant classic. It is funny and has some very tender moments for the women. It was very well written and directed. I enjoyed every minute of it. It is a fantastic comedy.I highly recommend seeing this movie then second movie back to back,

In the spring of 2002, I went to see a romantic comedy about which I had heard very little. The movie's lack of advertising made it seem like it wasn't a very big deal and its focus on an ethnic heritage that was not my own made me think that I might have trouble relating to the story. I couldn't have been more wrong. Before the opening credits were over, I decided that I would buy the movie's DVD when it came out. The reason that I'm relating my personal experience seeing this particular film is that I believe it matches the experiences of many other Movie Fans who saw "My Big Fat Greek Wedding" (PG, 1:35).The film originated as a one-woman stage show in which actress and Second City alum Nia Vardalos entertained audiences with her take on growing up in a Greek family and then marrying a non-Greek. Actress Rita Wilson saw the play and suggested that her husband, Tom Hanks, create a film version through his production company, Playtone Entertainment. The result was a $5 million movie that became a sleeper hit, earning $368.7 million worldwide, making it the highest-grossing romantic comedy – and one of the most profitable films ever.Surprisingly, the film never topped an individual weekend box office, but its slow build, aided by strong word of mouth, resulted in the movie being in U.S. theaters for 52 weeks, over half of that time in wide release. Vardalos received an Oscar nomination for her screenplay and acting nominations from the Hollywood Foreign Press (the Golden Globes) and the Screen Actors Guild. Unfortunately, she didn't win any of those awards, but Movie Fans won big, having been blessed with this wonderful comedic gem.Fotoula "Toula" Portokalos (Vardalos) is a single 30-year-old American born to a large, proud, loud, tightly-knit Greek family in which she feels smothered and trapped. She works as a hostess at Dancing Zorba's, the Greek Restaurant owned by her father (Michael Constantine) and mother (Lainie Kazan) in Chicago. Toula lives in an obnoxiously Greek-looking suburban home with her parents, grandmother (Bess Meisler) and younger brother, Nick (Louis Mandylor), who works as a cook at Dancing Zorba's.Toula's sassy older sister, Athena (Stavroula Logothettis) has married a Greek boy and made Greek babies, as Toula's voice-over tells us she is also expected to do, but Toula wants something more out of life. With her traditional, but sympathetic mother's help, Toula's stubborn father agrees to let her take some courses at a local college. She builds on her earlier success in high school computer classes and ends up going to work at the travel agency owned by her Aunt Voula (Andrea Martin) and Uncle Taki (Gerry Mendicino). As she expands her horizons, Toula starts paying more attention to her appearance, becomes more social and gains confidence… but all that is only the beginning of her transformation.In her various jobs, Toula keeps running into tall, handsome local high school teacher, Ian Miller (John Corbett). Ian has tired of the string of ordinary women that his best friend, Mike (Ian Gomez, Vardalos' real-life husband) sets him up with, and he finds Toula to be refreshingly different. Toula keeps her budding romance a secret from her family until her meddling Cousin Nikki (Gia Carides) comes to tell her "the family knows." What follows is a series of humorous scenes in which Ian works to gain the acceptance of Toula's family, is repeatedly hazed by her brother and their Cousin Angelo (Joey Fatone), and tries to help his very reserved, upper middle class WASPy parents (Bruce Gray and Fiona Reed) to get to know Toula's extremely outgoing "very Greek" family. Of course, given this movie's title, it's obvious where the story goes from here, but this film is not about the destination. It's about the ride."My Big Fat Greek Wedding" isn't just one of the best romantic comedies of all time, it is, in my not-so-humble opinion, one of the best comedies of all time, period. Of course, it all starts with Vardalos' brilliantly insightful and hilarious script. After watching this movie for the Nth time to refresh my memory before writing this review, I still found myself repeatedly laughing out loud. As the script's jokes make us laugh with a combination of ethnic humor and many simply funny situations, it also makes its unusual characters and plot very relatable. Who among us can't identify with "weirdness" in our family, the search for true love and acceptance and the desire to be ourselves and make the most of our lives? But the script is only one of many elements that makes this rich Greek meal so deliciously enjoyable to so many different kinds of people. After directing several highly successful television sitcoms, like "Perfect Strangers" and "Family Matters", Joel Zwick (no relation to Edward) helms this movie with a keen eye for comedy and a sensitive feel for the characters' emotions. He mines all situations for every conceivable laugh, but never lets us lose sight of Toula's journey, which is the beating heart of the story.Vardalos had offers to make her play into a movie before Wilson and Hanks came along, but the earlier prospective producers wanted to change much of the story and didn't want to cast her in the lead role. As a Movie Fan, I'm very thankful that she stood her ground and eventually signed with Playtone. She is a very talented comic actress and her presence in the lead brings an authenticity that makes the whole thing work. Meanwhile, equally authentic and funny is the wonderful cast of supporting players who are all perfect for their roles and represent ingredients I believe are essential to the movie's overall flavor.Consider "My Big Fat Greek Wedding" to be very highly recommended by this "xeno" Movie Fan.