Rating: 
Summary: 2002's Best Movie
Review: I'm not even Greek, and I feel so good about this movie! This is the one I would have nominated for any awards. I have to admit I learned a lot about Greek family today. Although I REALLY don't understand the spitting, I imagine that the Greeks are not too different from other races and ethnicities, all of whom have their quirks and customs, and all of whom have similar conflicts when one of their own marries an "outsider".Hopefully the reader would use common sense and make up their own mind, but as for me, I like this kind of movie. "romantic comedy", as opposed to the more derogatory term "chick flick", best describes this movie, and there are thankfully no blood and guts or shooting in this movie. It's a family movie about family, unlike "Road To Perdition", which I've tried my best to get out of my mind. Best of all, it shows that the studios don't have to hire overpriced bad actors with a sky's-the-limit budget to produce a decent movie that makes a profit. About the actors, I recognized two: Michael Constantine, who's been around forever, and Lainie Kazan, who plays the mother. I was later told that one of the members of a popular "boy band" has a part in the movie also. I don't keep up with the Top40 smut so I don't know. The stars of the movie are fairly unknown, at least to me, but I'm pleased to see that Greek actors don't have to disguise their names to get work, like they used to way back when. Power to them! About the movie's story, the part I liked best is the relationship between Tula and her kid brother. I loved how supportive he was of her and how he looked up to her. I found the mother-daughter dynamic interesting as well. The women of the family know exactly how to play the men...it was heartwarming for me. There needs to be a whole lot more movies like this one out there, and I plan on buying this future classic when it comes out on video.
Rating: 
Summary: I'm not Greek (I don't know if that matters) but enjoyed it!
Review: "My Big Fat Greek Wedding" is an enjoyable romp about the ethnic eccentricities of a young woman's (Nia Vardelos) family brought to painfully funny light when she marries outside of her Greek community. It's a thin plot, an excuse to show off its ethnic characters, but it does so hilariously well. Although there isn't anything about the Portokalos family that we haven't hasn't seen before (the mischievous brothers who pull merciless pranks on their sister's clueless suitors; the compulsion to include three generations of cousins in the immediate family; being devoutly religious; blatant male chauvinism that brands daughters as failures if they aren't mothers by 30, while sons can be bachelors well past that age; that the men cling so tightly to their power, they don't realize how women outmaneauver them with their guile; how women are expected to do only three things - marry Greek men, cook Greek food and bear Greek children), the script has a lot fun playing it to the hilt. Toula is about 30 and unmarried - not even her family hides how they've given up on her. Working in her father's café, Toula looks like a premature frump when the story starts (flat hair and glasses that look like they belong on a 9-year old). Her father is played over the top as a man more Greek than Zeus, Hercules and Zorba rolled up (in a small suburb of tastefully modest houses, the Portokalos home was renovated to suggest the Parthenon, arrayed with columns, statues of the gods and a garage door painted according to the Greek flag; Mr. Portokalos relentlessly challenges others to dream up words that aren't somehow etymologically based on Greek; in case we haven't realized that Papa Portokalos had his roots as a character in some stand-up routine, the script has him toting a bottle of Windex, convinced that it can cure anything from minor burns to psoriasis). With the help of her mother (Lainie Kazan) and a cooperative aunt (Andrea Martin in another of the flick's over-the-top performances) Toula breaks out of her shell and builds a career for herself. Remaking herself (her hair and clothes, and swapping her glasses for contacts) Toula falls in love with a teacher (John Corbett from "Sex and the City") and manages to sell him and her family on each other. While suggesting the ethnic clashes, the film remains breathlessly optimistic, and your face will hurt from repeated laughter. Wise, knowing and fun, the script and the characters are good enough to compensate for its foibles (yes, somebody does utter the line "it's all Greek to me", but not until the near end of the flick; though set in and near a Greek café in Chicago, nobody ever says "chee-boiga, chee-boiga; chip, chip, chip). In short, a lot of fun.
Rating:
Summary: Great fun
Review: This was one of the best movies that I've seen all year. Funny, touching, warm. Who could ask for more. I went without my husband thinking it was a "chick flick" and now I'm taking him. I know that he will enjoy it too.
Rating:
Summary: A Greek 'Moonstruck'
Review: What a funny movie! The last time I laughed this hard was at Moonstruck. Anyone who was raised in an Italian or Greek family or married into one can relate. It is a movie to see again and again.
Rating:
Summary: I laugh so hard my sides hurt!!! :)
Review: 5 PLUS!!! A perfect 10
Too bad it did not get the promos it deserved... Please please go see this movie and then buy it!
You'll laugh for years to come!
Rating:
Summary: Amazing
Review: I'm going to have to see this agian. I was laughing too hard to see all of it the first time. The flavor lingers well too, there is a lot of truth on the screen,
Rating:
Summary: My Big Fat Greek Smile!
Review: Foreige films I was never a fan of and I thought that the comendy smash My Big Fat Greek Wedding was one of them but yet I was interested in veiwing this film.When I did see the movie I was sad that it wasn't a foreige film but I enjoyed it to the fullest. The kind of family that is in the film is probally the type of family that you see in just about every movie about dyfuntional families. The movie is a great movie that I laughed out loud countless times.They didn't need to add anything eles in the movie to make it good.The lenght of time for this kind of movie went perfect for the plot and everything that happened in it.This doesn't happen very often. The acting in the movie was excellant.I've only seen John Corbett in one of his previous films Serendipity and all of the other actors and actresses were new to me.Buty they were all wonderful for the first time. The movie is simply about a Greek girl in a very very very Greek family.Her family always goes to tradition.Toula is the girls name and her father owns a resturant named Dancing Zorbas.One day a man walks in to the resturant with his friend and Toula makes a fool out of herself in front of him.She gets a job at a travel agency and the guy comes back and they go out.The trouble comes when he proposes and she accepts.Everything is fine except.....he's not Greek. So see My Big Fat Greek Wedding.This DVD will be in my DVD libary. ENJOY!
Rating:
Summary: I laughed so much my face hurt!
Review: This is the best movie I have seen in months. It is funny, true to a point where families are involved. Clean and when I left the movie theater, I felt good. I recommend this movie to everyone.
Rating:
Summary: Wonderful Romantic Comedy!
Review: I went to this movie not expecting much, laughed all the way through, and left pleased with myself for having chosen to see it. That's the kind of movie this is, it makes you feel pleased with yourself for choosing such a gem to watch. Toula was completely relatable as a shy, slightly awkward young woman who is struggling to come in to her own amidst her crazy/lovable Greek family. By chance she meets the lovable Ian, and the resulting romance brings together two completely different worlds. An absolutely delightful movie that is well worth seeing more than once!
Rating:
Summary: Possibly the best movie now out there
Review: Saw this movie in a local "art" theater, in a large screening room which was packed, despite the fact this movie has been running there a good two months. MY BIG FAT GREEK WEDDING, and SUNSHINE STATE, neither yet in a large chain theater, are the two best movies out now. Unless you like seeing Tom Cruise, Matt Damon, Ben Affleck, or Harrison Ford all in what is essentially the same spy movie, with explosions and guys falling off buildings. Nia Vardalos, star and writer, presents her self as she is, ethnically beautiful but not starlet-pretty, which plays a major role in her character's self-image. The theme is universal and we care about the characters. Excellent performances by the two of the best character actors in the business, Lainie Kazan (who looks so much like Nia Vardalos) and Michael Constantine. John Corbett is, as always, John Corbett, a fine and subtle actor. Ms. Vardalos put together a package whose backers included IFC / Independent Film Channel, HBO, Joel Zwick, and Mr. and Mrs. Tom Hanks. (Tom, by the way, is in the only Hollywood movie worth seeing, a terrific movie, ROAD TO PERDITION.) Some emigrants to America held onto their European culture at all costs. This movie depicts such a family. But like many, the next generation is more open to new ideas. AMERICAN RHAPSODY had such a theme. Both do it very well. Perhaps the best scene is a minor one in which Louis Mandylor, playing Nia's brother, makes friends with/threatens John Corbett-or does he? So well written, so subtly directed, so well acted. Why is Corbett not yet a matinee idol? Do yourself a favor. Take the family. Eat. Watch. Laugh. Feel.
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