I cannot believe that I have not watched this film earlier. I guess I imagined that it was going to be twee and a bit cheesy and really, I guess it was. But it had huge heart, and I really loved it.
Toula Portokalos (Nia Vardalos) starts the film as a bit of a loser – an ugly ducking who dresses frumpily and works in her dad’s restaurant. But she decides she needs to get her act together. She starts to take care of her appearance and (in a fabulous twist from the usual ugly duckling story that places emphasis only on looks) studies to improve her job prospects. The she meets Ian Miller (John Corbett) and they start a clandestine affair. When they are outed, they pursue the relationship (hardly a spoiler… look at the title of the film) and find the various pitfalls of combining the families of a large, raucous, close and direct Greek family to an extremely reserved, waspish family.
There is certainly an element of ‘this is funny because people are different’, which I think could easily become tedious, but the structure worked really well to allow it to unfold.
My Big Fat Greek Wedding was nominated for an Oscar for Best Writing, Original Screenplay (Nia Vardalos).
ireckonthat 