Girl meets boy. Boy and girl fall in love. Wackiness ensues.Hello, my friends, and welcome to my review of My Big Fat Greek Wedding, which was released in 2002 as a small and fairly unknown independent feature and slowly but surely became a smash hit. But why? What did this movie have that others did not?
Before I saw it, it seemed like your everyday chick flick to me. However, after recommendations from a number of people (and the fact that it was playing for a dollar at the theater down the street from my school) I finally gave in and went to see it. I was shocked Yes, it does have some of the mechanics of a regular chick flick, but the annoying ones, thankfully, weren’t there.
My Big Fat Greek Wedding tells the story of a woman named Toula (Nia Vardalos). Being a Greek single woman over the age of 25 has prematurely turned her into an old maid, according to her family’s standards. However, she feels that there is much more available to her than just her family. As she begins to expand her life, non-Greek Ian Miller, played by John Corbett, enters the scene and turns everything upside-down. Once you get to know these characters and the rest of the wonderful ensemble cast, you know you’re in for a treat.
But why was it better than your run-of-the-mill chick flick? First of all, the two individuals who formed the main couple were not stupid. They didn’t go into this relationship thinking that their significant other was going to be perfect. They also didn’t go in under false pretenses and then end up having to come clean months later. There was a significant part of the film that I thought—drawing on my past experience with chick flicks—would present the conflict for the rest of the movie, and I was floored when it did not.
Second, it was not as unrealistic as many other chick flicks are. Sure, every girl dreams that the perfect guy is going to come along and sweep her off her feet, and we see that happening in movies all the time. However, in real life, it does not happen that often. I am exceedingly grateful to this movie for showing a somewhat more realistic version of dating and being in love than what we typically see. Granted, there were still remnants of that Hollywood-ever-after aspect, but just the right amount.
But that’s not all. My Big Fat Greek Wedding was also extremely well-written, well-cast, well-everything. The characters were quite entertaining; it seemed like every character had something that set them apart from the background. There were very few “cardboard” people propped into the movie just to fill up space. I think another reason that I loved the characters in this movie was because they were really my family, though on a much grander scale. (Of course, if this film were to star my family it would have to be called My Big Fat Irish Catholic Wedding. However, after my father saw it, he told me that it pretty much described his meeting my mother’s family. I found this hilarious!)
It was so refreshing to find no unrealistic obstacles in this movie. I don’t know if anybody thought of this before, but I imagine the pitch went something like this:
Sleazy agent A: Imagine every chick flick you have ever seen.
Sleazy agent B: Okay.
Sleazy agent A: Now take away the improbable romance, the lying, and the stupidity.
Sleazy Agent B: Wait! But then you are left with nothing! That is not what America wants and Hollywood will never make it.
It’s like a seagull listening for a pulse in your foot. The agents are doing what they know, but are looking for the pulse in the wrong place. Fortunately, the makers of My Big Fat Greek Wedding ignored the squawking agents, moved their collective ear right up to America’s carotid artery, and found the way to pull at our heart strings. Thank you! Here, take an 18!
Before I saw it, it seemed like your everyday chick flick to me. However, after recommendations from a number of people (and the fact that it was playing for a dollar at the theater down the street from my school) I finally gave in and went to see it. I was shocked Yes, it does have some of the mechanics of a regular chick flick, but the annoying ones, thankfully, weren’t there.
My Big Fat Greek Wedding tells the story of a woman named Toula (Nia Vardalos). Being a Greek single woman over the age of 25 has prematurely turned her into an old maid, according to her family’s standards. However, she feels that there is much more available to her than just her family. As she begins to expand her life, non-Greek Ian Miller, played by John Corbett, enters the scene and turns everything upside-down. Once you get to know these characters and the rest of the wonderful ensemble cast, you know you’re in for a treat.
But why was it better than your run-of-the-mill chick flick? First of all, the two individuals who formed the main couple were not stupid. They didn’t go into this relationship thinking that their significant other was going to be perfect. They also didn’t go in under false pretenses and then end up having to come clean months later. There was a significant part of the film that I thought—drawing on my past experience with chick flicks—would present the conflict for the rest of the movie, and I was floored when it did not.
Second, it was not as unrealistic as many other chick flicks are. Sure, every girl dreams that the perfect guy is going to come along and sweep her off her feet, and we see that happening in movies all the time. However, in real life, it does not happen that often. I am exceedingly grateful to this movie for showing a somewhat more realistic version of dating and being in love than what we typically see. Granted, there were still remnants of that Hollywood-ever-after aspect, but just the right amount.
But that’s not all. My Big Fat Greek Wedding was also extremely well-written, well-cast, well-everything. The characters were quite entertaining; it seemed like every character had something that set them apart from the background. There were very few “cardboard” people propped into the movie just to fill up space. I think another reason that I loved the characters in this movie was because they were really my family, though on a much grander scale. (Of course, if this film were to star my family it would have to be called My Big Fat Irish Catholic Wedding. However, after my father saw it, he told me that it pretty much described his meeting my mother’s family. I found this hilarious!)
It was so refreshing to find no unrealistic obstacles in this movie. I don’t know if anybody thought of this before, but I imagine the pitch went something like this:
Sleazy agent A: Imagine every chick flick you have ever seen.
Sleazy agent B: Okay.
Sleazy agent A: Now take away the improbable romance, the lying, and the stupidity.
Sleazy Agent B: Wait! But then you are left with nothing! That is not what America wants and Hollywood will never make it.
It’s like a seagull listening for a pulse in your foot. The agents are doing what they know, but are looking for the pulse in the wrong place. Fortunately, the makers of My Big Fat Greek Wedding ignored the squawking agents, moved their collective ear right up to America’s carotid artery, and found the way to pull at our heart strings. Thank you! Here, take an 18!
7 comments:
i haven't seen it, but apparently this movie dodged the three major downfalls of chick flicks: having a central relationship based on lying, having one of the people in the central relationship engaged to a third party, and having it star Matthew McConaughey. very intriguing indeed.
Nice review, Stormy. I especially liked the vague reference to the seagull listening for a heartbeat. :)
I definitely agree with you on this one. It was funny, and didn't do what we've come to expect from these types. I think what I appreciated most was the fact that she didn't have to have the perfect wedding. There were bigger fish to fry.
Anyway, I felt the need to add some iconic lines:
"It's ok! It's ok! I make lamb."
"In the end, we all fruit!"
Yes, you like the film, but what do you think of Windex?
I loved the windex parts! Unfortunately, I cannot take credit for inventing the seagull reference and it is from The Little Mermaid. Thanks WLC those lines bring back some good memories.
On a more serious note, I have a hard time with your comment on perfect guys: "it does not happen that often".
Mathimatically speaking, it never happens.
If you think it had happened to you then you're either very lucky or of low standards. OK, that's a joke, but seriously, though: If you think you're with a perfect guy (or a girl, for that matter), just give it a bit of time for the imperfections to show up.
If you were to ask me, I would say that the art of loving is in learning to accept [and to love] your partner's imperfections.
Not that I'm saying the film's good. I liked it, it made me laugh, but overall I thought it was a pretty ordinary film with too many cliches. The reason I bother clarifying this is because I think the points raised in your review are not ordinary at all.
Moshe, Thanx for clarifying my statement, I did not want to come off as too cynical and that whole perfect guy phenomenon has never happened to me. I just really appreciated the movie's willingness to say here is something that is close to a normal relationship. Granted there are some cliches but I did not mind them. "The reason I bother clarifying this is because I think the points raised in your review are not ordinary at all." I am wondering what you meant by that.
To clarify: What I meant to say (and obviously failed to say) is that I think that while the film is average and shallow, the issue you've raised (expectations to do with love) is something that we can discuss from here to eternity. I owe WLC a discussion on this issue as well, but that's off the point.
While at it, I will add that if you're truly interested in watching films that are a bit different to mainstream (as in, love is not always perfect), then salvation is not that far off and you shouldn't settle for fat Greek weddings. All you need to do is look at independent cinema and foreign films. Try French cinema, for a start.
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