Rating: Summary: Big fat laughs and more! Review: MY BIG FAT GREEK WEDDING is for me the best "escape" movie all year long. While it doesn't break any new ground, it is thoroughly entertaining from start to finish. Its box office grosses tell you this movie is hitting the right notes with the American public.The greatest feature is the cast: especially Michael Constantine, Andrea Martin (whose Aunt Voula character reminds me of Edith from Martin's SCTV days in the 80s!), and the always wonderful and genuinely funny LAINIE KAZAN. Kazan and Martin definitely steal many of their scenes from their co-stars: they have the best lines!! Nia Vardalos and John Corbett play the fairy-tale couple who have to overcome their parents' prejudices against intermarriage between a Greek and non-Greek. John Corbett has one of the funniest scenes for his "baptism". Not going to explain it, just go see the movie. MBFGW did remind me, in some ways of the old Doris Day/Rock Hudson comedies where all the sex/romance was implied but never seen onscreen. This movie has a lot of charm and comedy, without being vulgar. There's no profanity and no onscreen sex you'd be embarassed to watch with your parents. I think this is the key to the movie's success. It is literally a family movie for everyone from ages 6 to 96. ...
Rating: Summary: A Big Fat Funny Success! Review: I just saw "My Big Fat Greek Wedding" and I'm still smiling. What a nice surprise! This is the best romantic comedy I've seen in a good while. The story centers around a young woman (played very sweetly by Nia Vardalos) who meets Mr. Right after making a change in her plain and uneventful life. The chance she takes pays off and she wins the heart of a handsome professor (John Corbett of "Northern Exposure and recently "Sex in the City) that leads to a wedding proposal. A good majority of the film follows the couple as she introduces him to the her huge Greek clan and he to his rather sedated parents. Lanie Kazan and Michael Constantine are superb as her parents and Andrea Martin, as Aunt Voula, is a riot. The chemistry between Vardalos and Corbett is real and very touching. The crowd I saw the movie with was as obviously as tickled as I was...we laughed ALL the way through! GO SEE THIS MOVIE! I guarantee you'll love it!
Rating: Summary: A huge disappointment. Review: I watched this movie hoping it would live up to all the hype and it didn't. The only funny part about this movie was the old Grandmother from Greece sneaking out of the house and drinking. This was a sad remake of the dorky girl get's the guy kind of movie. I made the mistake of buying it before renting it and now it just collects dust!
Rating: Summary: You don't have to be Greek to enjoy it Review: This movie was very enjoyable and refreshing. I couldn't stop laughing. Some people are complaining it didn't have a plot. Stupid idiots. What are you expecting some complicated, detailed plot like Lord of the Rings? It's about a woman's life. (...) Geez. Yeah, it's aimed more at somewhat nerdy females but I know guys who enjoyed it as well. It's about time someone made a movie that portrayed women in a different light. I am tired of these pathetic comedies like American Pie in which the woman are only viewed as sex objects.
Rating: Summary: Intelligent and Humorous Review: It seems like it's harder and harder for the film industry to come up with something original. In many cases you can point to a film and list multiple movies in the same genre, and often the current movie is either a direct remake or a thinly veiled remake. Not so with "My Big Fat Greek Wedding". Nia Vardalos plays Toula Portokalos, a rather frumpy Greek-American. Her family is somewhat stereotypical. However, the stereotype, while extreme, is within the realm of truth. Have been involved deeply with people from other countries, I have observed that quite often they see everything in terms of their own nation. What Gus Portokalos has on his garage door is hilarious, as one example. Toula is 30 years old, and single; a near death sentence in her Greek family where woman are expected to marry young, feed everyone, and make more Greek babies (according to Toula). While working as a "seating hostess" in her father's restaurant, she meets Ian Miller, played by John Corbett. The sparks begin to fly almost immediately. After several creative scenes, Ian and Toula finally date, and quickly grow to love each other. Toula's family is a riot. Because her family is very large, and very close, her extended family includes dozens of members. The two characters that stood out in my mind are Michael Constantine as Gus Portokalos, and Andrea Martin (of the long-defunct SCTV) as Aunt Voula. There are other actors you might recognize, but virtually every scene with Aunt Voula was funny, and Gus Portokalos as the supposed head of the family was easily manipulated by the real heads of the family, the women, making many of his scenes very funny. This movie is not the slapstick buffoonery we see in other contemporary comedies such as those by Eddie Murphy. Here the humor is the contrast between the too pure-white, upper middle class, and small family of Ian Miller and the richly patriotic, ethnically cohesive, and large family of Toula Portokalos. The Millers are overwhelmed by Toula's huge and relatively bizarre family. For example, the Portokalos hold an outdoor barbecue on their front lawn with hundreds of people. Whatever would the neighbors think would be the typical reaction of many people in many middle class neighborhoods. The Portokalos interpret (or try) everything the Millers do by their own standard. Both families are clueless regarding the other, and our objective view of both families give us the opportunity to find the humor in how little each knows about the other. Ian finds Toula to be interesting. Similarly, Toula finds something about Ian interesting. Each feels that the other offers something different. That difference is multiple, in terms of lifestyle, personality and expectations. The viewer should not expect Toula to become Cinderella. She does not and can not, and Ian is not looking for Cinderella. In fact, Ian may be looking for non-Cinderella. However, she is Ian's princess, and that's what truly counts. I particularly enjoyed the ending of the movie. There is a point as the movie nears the end where we realize that while the differences between the families and the lifestyles are large, ultimately both families have common interests. For me that key moment pulled the whole movie together, explaining that the point of the movie, after highlighting the differences between the characters and their families, was that we all pretty much want and like the same or similar things. Because I was personally touched by this moment, I'll let the viewers see for themselves what that moment might be, which may be different for them. This movie is not a wildly hilarious slapstick comedy. Instead, its humor is unabashedly ethnic-based. However, its stereotypes are not generally derogatory, any more so than those of say, "National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation" with Chevy Chase. But this movie will make you smile, and the touching moments will make you feel good. An intelligent movie that relies on simple story-telling, this movie deserved the accolades it received, and earns a 5-star rating.
Rating: Summary: 5 Stars Because It's Delightful! Review: Sure, "My Big Fat Greek Wedding" is not a cinematic event...the plot has virtually no serious conflict, and the movie is really a series of gags built on one delightful theme...the craziness of ethnic families, proud of their heritage. Rita Wilson, with help from husband Tom Hanks, engineered the making of this film. From a biographical original screenplay by Nia Vardalos, who plays herself in the film, as Toulah, the ugly duckling daughter of a boisterous Greek family, Wilson got the film made with an original limited release to only a few screens in major cities. Audience reaction caused the studio to think again, and remarket it to all theaters. MBFGW will be one of the few films that survives the whole summer on the big screen. Vardalos has crafted a plot and sight and sound gags that keep you chuckling throughout the film. Add to the mix John Corbett, every woman in America's dream man since he played Aidan in "Sex and the City", and you've got a winner. I was exceptionally happy to see the wonderful Michael Constantine and Laine Kazan, small screen performers of old, in terrific new roles, and terrifically funny! Andrea Martin - the zany alumnus of Saturday Night Live, gets lots of laughs as the crazy aunt. My favorite site gag in the movie, however, is the repetitive shots of the front of Toulah's home, complete with carefully placed Greek statuary. There've not been many quirky, feel good films to rival MBFGW in recent years. Go see it and celebrate your own crazy family!
Rating: Summary: Reminds Me of My Family and Their Big Fat Irish Weddings! Review: We rented this movie on DVD and I have to say that I liked My Big Fat Greek Wedding and totally agree that you don't have to be Greek to enjoy it. Toula's big boisterous Greek family reminds me of my big boisterous Irish family and all of the big fat Irish weddings I have gone too and I highly recommend this movie to any one who comes form a large boisterous family that includes a lot of aunts, uncles and cousins, etc, no matter what your nationality is! I just may buy this DVD for myself and as a gift for several family members!
Rating: Summary: You have to see this movie!!! Review: I first saw My Big Fat Greek Wedding alone on the big screen. I had no idea that it would be such a hit. Nia Vardalos does an incredible job about bringing out the humor in what it means to be a Greek American. I laughed before things were even said in the movie -- the Greek school scene, the Greek "boys" her dad wants her to marry, the brother, and the pomp & circumstance of the wedding. This is a funny movie, I think for non-Greeks, but for Greeks, it's a must. You have to see this movie. How often does anyone make a movie about Greek Americans anyway?? That being said, the dialogue could have been improved. Ian was a bit boring and flat of a character. I suppose that was the point, seeing as we were supposed to "see" Toula better. I think if Vardalos had realized what a hit she had on her hands, there would have been more polish on the movie. As it is, it is a diamond in the rough -- more or less.
Rating: Summary: A funny light entertainment Review: This film is austere but delightful. Written with sincerity and honesty. Affective memories support this movie. Laughable situations along the process to approach to the greek mood. Good performances and fluid script.
Rating: Summary: Hilarious Apple & Orange Wedding Review: Story is simple but it's fun and loveable. It talks about how an orange meets with an apple and get married together with completely different background and families pressure. Their true love eventually overpower people's stubbornness & cultural beliefs, and coming to a happy ending. This is a great movie that really does give you some excellent and joyful romantic entertainment. If the DVD could come with features like deleted scenes, that will be much better. Overall, a wonderful movie that makes you laugh, happy, romantic, and warm. It's just the DVD lacking abit of extra goodies.
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