I love Cinderella stories and MY BIG FAT GREEK WEDDING qualifies for a couple of reasons. First of all, its the story of an ugly duckling, played by its writer Nia Vardalos, who morphs into the princess bride. Second, its a sweet little indie that beat the odds and an all-but non-existent advertising budget to hang in there for months at multiplexes around the country. More, its an indie that Vardalos got to make her way, reprising her role of Tula from her one-woman show that is the basis of the script. Finally, Vardalos was allowed to keep the Greek-American perspective that at least one studio wanted to tone down if not lose altogether.
The story is sweet, but with a piquancy that keeps things from drowning in sentimentality. With humor, nostalgia and horror, heroine Tula gives us the lowdown in an opening voiceover about what it means to a Greek American. A house that pays lopsided tribute to the Parthenon, a father that insists that every word in the world comes from the Greek and is willing to expound endlessly on it, a grandmother who tosses curses with abandon, and a tradition pretty much as old as the Parthenon, that keeps Tula at thirty, living at home and working at the family restaurant. Then theres the fact that at 30 shes not, according to her family, getting any younger and its time for her to find a Greek man, marry and make lots and lots of Greek babies.
A chance encounter in her familys restaurant with hunky Ian, played by equally hunky John Corbett, gets her to thinking. Thinking leads to sneaking out to take college classes even though her father doesnt approve of college for girls. And college classes lead to a career, and a romance with Ian, who is not only not Greek, hes also a vegetarian. Naturally there are complications, when Tulas family finds out and when Tula meets Ians painfully WASP parents, when Tulas extended family of 100 or so meets Ians parents, or, to be more accurate are overwhelmed by them.
Vardalos, who honed her comedic skills with the Second City, delivers a first-rate performance that never sacrifices character for a cheap laugh even when taking a pratfall. John Corbett is, well, hes John Corbett, which is what both the script and his legion of lady fans require. Also along for the ride are Laine Kazan as Tulas earth-mother and Andrea Martin in a loopily arch performance as Tulas surreal aunt Voula. Its Michael Constantine as Tulas father, Gus, though, that almost steals the show. Even when being his most obdurate, he imbues Guss stubborn insistence on tradition and the miraculous healing power of Windex with such an innate sweetness that you cant help but love him even as hes using up the last of Tulas patience, not to mention self-esteem.
It is a romantic comedy in the best classic Hollywood style, albeit one with some sharp writing and genuinely human as well as funny moments. And its got a nice twist. Instead of the Greek-American assimilating into white-bread dullness, its Ian who makes the life change, plunging into all things Greek, literally, with a full-immersion baptism into the Greek-Orthodox Church, which makes for one of the films best and funniest moments. He even takes up speaking Greek, an effort that leaves him at the mercy of the more puerile of Tulas relatives as they give the unwitting Ian lessons in what not to say. We laugh at the foibles of Tulas family, the foibles that make her cringe. Things like male relatives that continually threaten Ians life if he doesnt make Tula happy. But Vardalos sensibility mines real heart in what could have been a cliché of culture conflict. When we see Tula on her wedding day, surrounded by a cloud of first-cousin bridesmaids, its all too clear that what makes us laugh and her cringe is also the wellspring of an identity from which she takes strength. That family isnt just a collection of people with similar DNA, it is a character in and of itself, sweeping Tula and Ian along whether they want to go or not. If her father suddenly stopped parsing every word down to its Greek roots, real or imagined, a little of the spice, and a lot of the bedrock would go out of Tulas life. Family has rarely been celebrated so well or with such clear-eyed affection as in MY BIG FAT GREEK WEDDING.
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