Rating: 
Summary: Just a Wonderful, Touching Movie
Review: The movie may have been about Greek traditions, but it could apply to so many of the diverse European countries who have contributed to this country. It is a warm, touching look at a Greek lady trying to find her own identity and does a beautiful job of it. The whole cast gives award winning performances and portray so well the ethnic traditions and eccentricities that all of our ancestors brought to this country. Tula transformed herself right in front of us from the plain looking, unmarried girl her relatives saw into a beautiful self-confident, if occasionally insecure, lady who wanted to be her own person. In the transformation she is still Greek and still concerned about her family. You could tell Ian was hooked on her the first time he saw her new look, and it didn't matter when he realized where he first saw her. This movie is one of the best new movies I have seen in years and I would recommend it to all.
Rating:
Summary: Everyone will want to be Greek!
Review: Drove 50 miles to see this movie on the first release weekend and have now seen it 5 times. Never have I ever seen a movie more than once! Worth it, Loved it, Will see it again and buy it on DVD. It was a good clean movie that I dragged my own teenagers to and they loved it-they also walked out understanding a little more about their own Greek family. Looking for a good movie to take a teen to that does not want you to turn away or walk out-this is the one. And you will leave with a smile on your face and a need to buy Windex! Thanks to Tom Hanks and Rita Wilson for showing Hollywood that good, clean movies are a smash hit and ones we want to see!
Rating:
Summary: YOU'LL LAUGH! YOU'LL CRY!
Review: Occasionally, a small, independent film comes along that shows the big Hollywood studios what a good movie is and why they should take risks. My Big Fat Greek Wedding is one of those off beat sleepers that cautious studio executives could never have imagined would gross $68 million; could never have imagined it would be on its wayto earning over $100 million; could never have imagined that it just might become the largest grossing movie of 2002. The public has gone for this movie in a big way because it is funny, insightful, intelligent and tasteful. My Big Fat Greek Wedding is both hilarious and heartwarming as it makes fun of the quirks of family life, yet it treats the subject with fondness and respect. Director Joel Zwick did an excellent job of directing this movie. Originally My Big Fat Greek Wedding was written and performed as a one-woman show by Nia Vardalos. It would have probably never been made into a movie were it not for a Greek woman in the theater audience, Rita Wilson, who is married to a man with a lot of clout and experience in the film industry, Tom Hanks. Rita and Tom liked the stage show so much they wanted to make it into a movie. They not only had the good sense to make it at Hanks' production company, they also used Vardalos from the stage play as the lead. Vardalos is a gifted actor, equally skilled at drama and slapstick comedy. She is also attractive, but not in the usual Hollywood leading lady way. Her transition through a variety of incarnations in My Big Fat Greek Wedding are reminiscent of Mercedes Ruehl's Academy Award performance in Lost in Yonkers. Starring as Toula Portokalos, we first meet Vardalos as a frumpy 30-something woman working in her family's Greek restaurant, Dancing Zorba's. Toula has frizzy hair and wears unflattering glasses, and poorly fitting baggy, faded thrift store dresses. She is a matronly spinster, who is desperate to escape from her family's restaurant to go back to college and get into a new life. Toula feels trapped and stifled by her family. "Nice Greek girls are expected to do three things: marry Greek boys, make Greek babies and feed everyone until the day we die," she moans. Her sister, who married young and produces Greek babies at regular intervals, is thrown up to Toula for underscoring her failure to emulate the model of Greek womanhood. Realizing Toula's deepening despair, her mother and aunt decide to help her. Toula's mother, Maria (Lainie Kazan of The Crew), and Aunt Voula conspire to persuade Toula's father, Gus (Michael Constantine of Thinner) to allow her to work in a travel agency run by the aunt. Comedienne Andrea Martin (originally of SCTV, and then Hedwig and the Angry Inch) is brilliantly wicked as Aunt Voula. When Toula says she's sure her father will not allow her to leave the restaurant, her mother replies she'll take care of it. "He may be the head of the family," Maria says, "but I'm the neck, and the neck can turn the head any way it wants to!" At the family's travel agency run by Voula, Toula meets a handsome, eligible bachelor, Ian Miller (John Corbett, male lead in Serendipity) who is a college English teacher. Ian's attraction to her causes Toula to undergo a caterpillar to butterfly metamorphosis. Her family assumes, just like all of their women, she is dating and will marry a Greek man. A lot of humorous dialog accompanies Toula introducing her WASP boyfriend to her family, trying to overcome their shock and bewilderment because Ian isn't Greek. But the family fireworks really begin when Toula tells them she intends to marry him. The film builds on the eccentricities of a Greek family. But it could just as easily have been any ethnic group in America. Unlike most comedies, this movie is for adults and shows a lot of insight. Some of the very funny comedy scenes border on slapstick, but most of them derive from development of the characters. Playing emotional and intellectual equals, Vardalos and Corbett make a great couple. Corbett's performance is strong and not overwhelmed by the extroverted, intimidating Portokalos family. Vardalos carries the more emotional role as Toula, buffeted by forces from the Portokalos family that tend to intimidate and manipulate her. Toula must find the strength to stand up for herself. Vardalos' performance is rich and vibrant, projecting great tenderness and vulnerability. Veteran actor Michael Constantine is wonderful as a father obsessed with all things Greek. He gets carried away with tradition sometimes, but his heart is in the right place. Lainie Kazan is solidly convincing as Toula's mother Maria. Louis Mandylor (of Enemy Action) skillfully plays Toula's similarly stifled brother Nick, awakened by his sister's example of finding a way out. This movie works because its main premise is families have idiosyncrasies that audiences can identify with. It makes for excellent entertainment and for a lot of laughing out loud at the machinations of Toula's family as she prepares herself for My Big Fat Greek Wedding. But it's not only the auidence that is laughing, surely Tom Hanks' independent film company is also laughing all the way to the bank.
Rating:
Summary: my big fat greek wedding is a very good movie.
Review: this movie has clean fun, great acting, a very plain
plot with very little conflicts. furthermore, there are no
nudity, sex and violence scenes. You will be laughting
constantly. it is nice to see how two cultures eventually melted together. As a nation of immigrans, we
can all related to this movie.
Rating: 
Summary: Good funny movie....
Review: I thought this was one of the funnest movies i have seen in recent months....I liked Meet the Parents but this movie was even better.....I greatly enjoyed it....
Rating:
Summary: greekly funny !
Review: Wow i can't believe this came out of hollywood i'm impressed
& i'm guy nearly 30 what's wrong with me nothing. i think this movie superb an excellent example of what hollywood can put out when decided too, i never laugh so hard in my life , guys you'll enjoy this film so if girl asks to go & see it don't think twice take her & you won't regret it either. the cast that was picked is great plus rita wilson & tom hanks help with it (producer wise . publicly i don't recommend films to people this is one i would at same time it's clean fun for entire family completely heatfelt& funny may we see more type of these films . i'd give it a 10 if they had one.
Rating:
Summary: Haven't laughed that hard in a long time!
Review: This is an excellent movie. I thought that it would be a "girlie" movie, but it wasn't just that. It was a family, comedy, and drama all rolled into one. Incredible story about a Greek family. I learned alot and laughed to the very end. I can't wait for this movie to be released at the stores so I can run out and buy it!
Rating:
Summary: The Joy of all Things "Greek!"
Review: This film is a celebration of life steeped in tradition, family, love and just the joy of living; and it invites you to come in and participate in that celebration, rather than leaving you on the outside looking in, as it were, merely as an observer. A film that seemingly welcomes and passionately embraces all that is good and worthwhile in the world, "My Big Fat Greek Wedding," directed by Joel Zwick, will make you laugh and make you cry, but most importantly, it will make you "feel." It's one of those rare cinematic experiences that afterwards makes the sky seem bluer, your step a bit lighter and a smile easier to come by; and when a film can do all of that, you know you've come across a bona fide treasure that you're going to hang onto for a long, long time in your memory. Toula Portokalos (Nia Vardalos) is thirty years old, lives with her parents in Chicago and works in the family restaurant, "Dancing Zorbas." Every facet of her life is imbued with all things "Greek," and by proclamation long since issued by her father, Gus (Michael Constantine), Toula is bound by all that is "holy" (read: "Greek") to marry a Greek, live a Greek life and bear many Greek children. For her to even think of doing otherwise would be unfathomable, unthinkable, unimaginable and, well..."UN-Greek." So it becomes something of a conundrum for Toula when she meets and becomes interested in a man named Ian Miller (John Corbett), a guy who is decidedly NOT Greek in any way, shape or form. But he asks her out, and one thing leads to another and then another, but before Toula will allow things to get seriously out of hand, meaning "serious," she knows she must run up the flag, take a deep breath and tell her father. And for Toula, it just may be the hardest thing she's ever had to do in her life. Ian, meanwhile, is about to experience culture shock, as he is about to be confronted by a family that includes, for example, twenty-seven first cousins, something Ian isn't quite used to; after all, he has "two" of his own, and they live in another state. The screenplay was written by star Nia Vardalos, adapted from her own one-woman show, and it fell into capable hands when she turned it over to director Joel Zwick, who picks up the rhythms and the "sense" of the story without missing a beat. Falling into step with his star, Zwick crafts and delivers a film that is totally immersed in the zest and zeal of living. Under his astute tutelage, the viewer becomes a part of Toula's life, sharing that grand heritage of which Gus is so proud. He brings the story and the characters to life with detail and nuance, and in such a way that your senses will kick into full throttle. The images he creates are so vivid, and it's such an engaging presentation, that the vitality he generates is almost tangible, and you can smell the lamb and all of those Greek delicacies cooking in the kitchen. And Zwick sets it all in motion by establishing a pace that will sweep you along with the story; a carousel ride that will keep you involved and smiling all the way to the end. Nia Vardalos certainly captures the essence of all that is "Greek" with her story, and with her affecting performance as Toula. This is a young woman you get attached to very quickly; there's something of Benny, from "Circle of Friends" about her, as well as Muriel, from "Muriel's Wedding." It's a character your heart goes out to immediately, one to whom you wish all good things will come. There is an introspection to her portrayal that contrasts effectively with her vigorously outgoing environment, and it makes her presence all the more dominating and singular. And it's actually in the reserve Vardalos exhibits in her character that the viewer finds the way inside to Toula's deepest longings and emotions. Without question, this is a complex individual, in whom we find not only the strength necessary to maintain autonomy (which she manages to do within the greater structure of her family), but vulnerability born of the respect she demonstrates toward her father, her family and the traditions they so lovingly serve. It is this very complexity, in fact, that elicits the necessary empathy of the audience, enabling that vital connection between the viewer and Toula. And Nia Vardalos IS Toula, from the ground up and from the inside out. Moreover, one would be hard put to discern any distinction whatsoever between the actor and her character, as her performance is entirely natural and genuine. As Toula's mother, Maria, Lainie Kazan is a delight. The character she creates is totally credible, and she's just a joy to watch. And the same can be said of Andrea Martin's performance as Aunt Voula. This is a VERY Greek woman who is boisterous, overtly self-assured, opinionated and dominant; and she will win you over in an instant. It is Maria and Voula that add some real spice to the film, and when you add in Gia Carides (who plays Nikki) to the mix, you've got a Greek feast fit for the gods. Of all the actors in this wonderful cast, however, the one who absolutely steals "My Big Fat Greek Wedding," is Michael Constantine, who has the role of his career in Gus, and without question, makes the most of it. From his overabundance of Greek pride to his many and varied personal peccadilloes (like his ever-present bottle of Windex, which he is convinced can cure everything from a minor scrape to the common cold), he simply gives the performance of a lifetime; and if there is any justice in the whole "Greek" world, Constantine-- and this film-- will be duly remembered at Oscar time. It's the magic of the movies.
Rating:
Summary: Refreshing, Delightful and funny!
Review: This was refreshing, in that it gave insight into a culture and the values of a Greek family and their daughter and her marriage. I didn't leave my seat throughout the entire movie as it kept me in such an upbeat mood. The star and co-star were perfect as the bride and groom! A must see!
Rating:
Summary: Not a chick flick!
Review: No, not a chick flick. A really fine movie with lots of laugh-out-loud genuine humor, charm and warmth, and plenty of good acting. Every individual I know who saw this film, regardless of gender, has loved it. This was my first exposure to Nia Vardalos (Toula). Watching her character's transformation made you want to cheer; for the transformation and the drive of the character, as well as for the talent displayed by Nia. John Corbett, who was great in both 'Sex In the City' and 'Northern Exposure' is either the nicest guy in the world or the best actor. His character (Ian) was almost too good to be true. Where are all the real-world guys who are this great? His character in 'Sex In the City' was a 'nice guy' as well. Corbett easily convinced the audience he was dazzled and totally besotten by the charming Toula and was willing to endure 'the family' and all the trappings to have her for his wife because he was so totally and genuinely in love with her. Michael Constantine and Lainie Kazan were wonderful in their roles of Toula's parents, particularly Michael Constantine. His portrayal of Greek father was right on the mark. This was a satire, and Michael played his character just that way. The family interaction and what the viewer learned about the qualities and traditions of the Greek ethnicity were both interesting and touching. The humour in their presentation was priceless. I loved the hectic family life as it was portrayed. The fact that it was a Greek family provided for some of the specific references, but the fact it was a large and loving family gave warm reminders to those who have such a family and made those of us who don't just a trifle envious. I feel it would be remiss not to mention my wondering if there are many ethnic groups who would respond so well to so many pokes at their beliefs and traditions, no matter how gentle the poke. Those of us in other groups might benefit from examining ourseslves to see if we are strong enough in our sense-of-self and so well-grounded in our ethnicity to laugh at ourselves with such unabashed joy. Love and laughter are good for the soul and the heart. This film has a great helping of both. So treat yourself to this film either in the theater or as soon as it is released on DVD and enjoy yourself heart and soul.
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