My Big,
Fat, Greek Wedding
Dan's Comments
From the trailers, I assumed My Big, Fat, Greek Wedding was going to
be a cheesy comedy about an ethnic wedding, and who needs that. Instead I saw
a wonderful story of coming to terms with what makes American cultures different
and interesting.
The film centers on Toula (Nia Vardalos who also wrote the movie), a 30-year-old
unmarried Greek girl working as a waitress in the family restaurant. Her family
expects her to marry a Greek boy but has all but given up on her. She's almost
given up on herself but sees a pamphlet about computer courses at a local college.
Her life is so small that she has to convince her parents to let her go to school.
Her school experience leads to one life expanding experience after another including
meeting the man of her dreams. Unfortunately, he's not Greek and this presents
a problem for her close-minded father.
This movie works on many different levels. Toula's family shows unconditional
love and expressism which is totally foreign to fiancee Ian's WASP family. Ian
is attracted to Greek culture which is exciting to him compared to his dull
white-bread upbringing. On another level this is a story of gaining independence
and of challenging societal norms. On a personal level its hits close to home
for someone who's been in multi-cultural relationships.
My Big, Fat, Greek Wedding was supposedly made for $3M and was produced,
in part, by Tom Hanks and his wife Rita Wilson. It opened on 108 screens in
April 2002 and has steadily built an audience into July and has grossed $23M
as of July 7. The story is a bit choppy as it covers quite a bit of territory,
but you're going to be hard pressed to find a more poignant and heart-warming
story this year. Look for this film to release on DVD just in time to leverage
its Best Screenplay nomination next Spring.
Michelle’s Comments
I agree with Dan that seeing the trailers didn’t inspire me to want to see this
movie. However, I kept hearing about it and thought let’s give it a try. My
Big, Fat, Greek Wedding turned out to be a fabulous movie.
I won’t try to find the hidden meanings behind the movie because Dan has already
done a good job of it. I will say My Big, Fat, Greek Wedding does a good
job of pulling you in and has you rooting for Toula that her life will work
out so she can be happy. I would recommend this movie to anyone.
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Copyright 2002, 2003, 2004 Dan Dodson
