My Big Fat Greek Wedding

Plot synopsis:
30-year-old Fotoula "Toula" Portokalos (Nia Vardalos) feels that she is the only woman in her family who has "failed" at being a typical Greek girl. Her family expects her to be more like her 33-year-old sister Athena (Stavroula Logothettis) and marry a Greek boy, make Greek babies, and "feed everyone until the day she dies." Instead, Toula is stuck working in the family restaurant in Chicago, "Dancing Zorba's." Frumpy and cynical, she fears that she is doomed to be stuck with her life. One day while at the restaurant, Toula briefly becomes enamored with and embarrasses herself in front of Ian Miller (John Corbett), a handsome school teacher.
An argument with her overly nationalistic father Gus (Michael Constantine), who wants his daughter to marry and settle down with another Greek or man of Greek origin rather than pursue a career, causes Toula to want her own life away from the restaurant and her intrusive family. Gus refers to anybody who is non-Greek as "Xenos". After some persuasion by his wife, Maria (Lainie Kazan), Gus reluctantly permits Toula to begin taking computer classes at a community college. Toula trades her glasses for contact lenses, curls her hair, and begins to wear make-up, improving her confidence, mood, and self-esteem. Armed with her skills, Toula convinces her mother and her Aunt Voula (Andrea Martin) to get Gus to allow her to work at Voula's travel agency instead of the restaurant.
Toula does better in her new job, catching the eye of Ian, who is smitten with her. Despite Toula being shy whenever she sees Ian, they introduce themselves, date, and fall in love. Toula tries to keep the relationship secret from her family, until Gus finds out due to the closeness of the Greek-American community. He throws a fit because Ian is not an ethnic Greek, and he orders Toula to end the relationship and tries to set her up on dates with Greek men, but Ian and Toula continue to see each other, against Gus's wishes. Ian proposes to her, and Toula accepts. Gus is hurt and infuriated, feeling that his daughter has betrayed him. Ian, wanting to be with Toula, agrees to be baptized in the Greek Orthodox Church, an act which earns Gus's grudging respect and the acceptance of the rest of the family.
Obstacles start to occur during the planning of the wedding, as Toula's numerous relatives "helpfully" interfere by imposing their ideas into her planning. The situation reaches its head when Gus and Maria invite the entire family to what was meant to be a "quiet" introductory dinner with Ian's demure and private parents, and the evening is a failure.
The wedding day dawns, and though Toula is nervous, the traditional Greek wedding goes without a hitch. At the reception, Gus gives a speech accepting Ian and the Millers as his new family. As his wedding gift, he presents the newlyweds with a deed to a new home. Following the reception, Toula and Ian drive away to begin their married life.
An epilogue shows the couple's life six years later. They have a daughter, who complains that she would prefer not to go to Greek school. Toula placates her by assuring her that when the time comes, she can marry whomever she wants. As they walk towards Greek school, it is revealed that their home is next door to that of Toula's parents.

Tags: comedy, humor, entertaining, romantic, flashback

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.
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.
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.
I think people who gave this move bad reviews just didn't get it, because, they are not around or live inside the world of a Greek family.
My Big Fat Greek Wedding is a very simple, funny romance story that would probably be most appreciated by female audiences.
Nia Vardalos (the film's writer and star) is Toula Portokalos, a quiet young woman from a zany Greek family.
Toula's upbringing has only allowed her to look forward to one thing at this point in her life: get married to a nice Greek boy and have lots of babies.
She stops working at her family's resturaunts and starts taking computer classes at the local college, which lead her not only to a better appreciation for herself, but leads to a job at her aunt's travel agency where she meets Ian Miller (Jon Corbet), and that is where our story begins.Toula and Ian are in love, really very much so.
Everyone was fantastic in this film, especially Lainie Kazan as Toula's mom, Michael Constantine as her father, and the wonderfully hilarious Andrea Martin as Toula's Aunt Voula.I don't know the reason for so many negative reviews for this movie.
I would say it was probably the best movie I saw in 2002, and one that I have seen many times since just because it a lovely little (and funny) story about a girl in love..
"My Big Fat Greek Wedding" happened due to good timing and lots of luck.
Easily one of the most successful films of all time financially speaking (based upon the bargain basement cost and the astronomical showing at the box office), "My Big Fat Greek Wedding" is a wholesome film that the whole family can enjoy.
My Big Fat Greek Wedding has to be one of the best written and best acted comedies I think I have seen in a long time.
While the concept of making a movie about weddings is not unique, I believe that those of us who either have gone through planning a wedding or have experiences with family having too much influence in our lives will relate to this movie better than other wedding movies.This movie is about an ordinary rather plain looking thirty something unmarried woman who comes from a large extended Greek family.
All Greek women are expected to go to Greek school, find a good Greek man, marry him and have lots of Greek babies according to the narrator who is also the main character in the movie.
This simple premise is what sets us off in almost two hours of raucous humor centered around planning a wedding where a couple coming from completely different backgrounds has to deal with all the external pressures that happen when two people decide to go down the aisle together.This movie has several very heartwarming and somewhat emotional scenes in it so don't expect it is just a funny movie.
It turned out that I needed some of the Windex, the father of the bride uses for everything, to clear my eyes and enjoy the film.Nia Vardalos has written from the heart this story of a crazy Greek family with all the stereotypes in it for us to savor and enjoy what has come out under the firm direction of Joel Zwick.
*Nice romantic-comedy about a Greek-American girl which has to fight against her family's strict traditions in order to marry a non-Greek boy.
I think that, for the Greek people, this movie must be full of topics and stereotypes, but for the ones who don't know about Greek ways of life is pretty funny.
'My Big Fat Greek Wedding' is a lovely film.
Unfortunately for her family she falls in love with Ian Miller (John Corbett), definitely not a Greek.
Although Toula doesn't like her family is Greek in every single way, and is too proud of it, she does love her family.'My Big Fat Greek Wedding' is a very enjoyable film, with a lot of funny moments.
As in David & Layla directed by Jalal Jonroy, My big fat Greek Wedding too celebrates the love and cultural differences.
My Big Fat Greek Weddeing brings people from different background closer and shows how important to accept the 'other' as other in order to be just happy!
Ok, there are a few funny moments, but the characters are very cliché and we all had the feeling that we had seen the movie hundreds of times before.
When a movie's highest moment of tension comes from a wedding morning zit (a problem solved minutes later by a stick of cover up)  you know you're dealing with a limp excuse for a film.
My Big Fat Greek Wedding is a hilarious and sweet film about a Greek woman, waiting for her life to take off.
My Big Fat Greek Wedding was an independent smash starting with a budget of barely $5 million and in the end, grossing over $200 million at the box office.
My Big Fat Greek Wedding makes up for what it lacks in plot with a cast of amusing, lovable characters.
The dynamics between the overwhelmingly extroverted Portokolos family and the reserved parents of the groom provide some amusing moments.My Big Fat Greek Wedding had potential to be an exceptional film.
You expect to fall in love with and root for the main character especially in a comedy like this, but I was halfway through the movie and didn't care whether she was happy in the end or what happened to her.
A lot of people have been saying that you will not find this movie funny unless you have lived with, or are part of a Greek family.
I am neither of these cases, and I really enjoyed the film.The plot line was genius, and gave people a real insight to Greek families, and put a hilarious spin on weddings in general, especially when the two families don't get along.The acting was...okay, however.
Only watched My Big Fat Greek Wedding as it was nominated for an Oscar for Best Screenplay most likely for being a box office smash.
it also surprised me to see that most of the negative reviews of this film talked about how they were 'bored' by this movie, or how nia vardalos is 'ugly', or how this film is only for 'women' or 'old people'.granted, this movie has very little sex, violence, or MTV editing, but it does what most movies try to do and fail at doing; creates an engaging story with interesting characters.
even though, when it comes down to it, this is just a "better" romantic comedy which stays in the box for much of the time, it IS, indeed, better than most movie fare out there and its popularity gives me hope that the "boring" movies with "ugly" people may have a chance with the jaded tards of middle america..
But, anyway, it is a good date movie, especially for older couples, and those who might know greeks more will be in on the in-jokes it makes from time to time (although it leaves out that old stereotype of, um, well, it is PG-13 so I shouldn't mention it here).
B. My Big Fat Greek Experience With This Film!.
but the flow of the story and the emotionalism of it all certainly makes the film a formula piece.The WASP family members of the groom were also classically clichéd.It was boring, and predictable with comedy that came out of a can, but it was sweet enough to pour on your pancakes..
Possibly the most amusing movie I've ever seen, it's all about Greeks and more Greeks and I can relate to this movie because most of my school life I grew up with kids of European descent, so I knew what they were all about.Okay the movie was straight forward, we have Toula (cue Nia Vardalos), a thirty year old woman who yearns for more than just her Greek-bred life, then one day she meets Ian (cue John Corbett and dreamy sighs) who comes and changes her life for the good.
However her parents don't know about her little romantic romp, but since she's Greek, good news gets around quickly in their big community.
But, there's no stopping true love...A cute, quirky movie that's just light enough and clean enough you can watch it with your kids, and still laugh whole-heartily at all the jokes and mishaps of the crazy clan Tula calls her family.I give this movie a 10 out of 10 and tonight is the third time I've seen it.
but I do know that MY BIG FAT GREEK WEDDING is a great movie.
The whole slant on the greek family traditions and way of life are very funny.
She, too, begged to go to college, and used Anglocized variations of her name.Maybe you have to be Greek to appreciate this movie fully.Toula's father says to her, "you look so old--when will you get married?", and when her brother--just a year younger--says "I'll get married, too, dad" the father smiles and says, "Oh, Nicky, you have plenty of time!".Did you catch her eating a sandwich on plain white bread with the "in" girls in college?
This particular Greek background family loved the movie, so it must ring true.Of course the story revolves around a shy 30 year old woman named Toula, trapped in her job at her Greek family's restaurant, Dancing Zorba's.
However, she really blossoms when she falls in love with a very unsuitable (according to her father) non-Greek WASP teacher named Ian. The story chronicles the culture clash as Toula must persuade her very traditional, opinionated father to accept Ian, and also introduce poor Ian to the Greek traditions and all her Big Fat Greek Family.Toula's blooming is remarkable (great actress in the role) and the very heart of the story.
As the saying goes, you can't choose your relatives...My favorite character is Toula's father, Gus. He makes this movie with his hilarious Windex obsession, his insistence that things be done HIS way.
'My Big Fat Greek Wedding' is one of the most over-rated films ever made.
The family was over-the-top, and I found my interest gradually decreasing as time went on.One thing that I did like in 'Wedding' was Nia Vardalos.
It is, instead, a testament to the stupid complacency of American culture that we saw this movie (many of us more than once), while we let great films like HUMAN NATURE, DAS EXPERIMENT and THE GREY ZONE go relatively unnoticed..
Nia Vardalos does not appeal to me nor the WHACKY Greek antics...which by the way..are the worst attempt at comedy in a movie I have yet to see..
This movie is not funny in any possible or Awkward way...I find it very irritating that this morbid looking Greek would be cast in the leading actress role...while, Rita Wilson on the other hand could have suited the role quite nicely.
I agree with the person on the message board who said that, given all the challenging, mesmerizing independent fare out there, it's upsetting filmgoers have made My Big Fat Greek Wedding the most successful independent movie of all time by a huge margin.
MY BIG FAT Greek WEDDING was a beautifully mounted romantic and family comedy that was a do or die project for its star, Nia Vardolos, who also wrote the screenplay.
"My Big Fat Greek Wedding" is only original in the fact that all of the main characters are Greek (duh!), and that these Greeks have different superstitions, which cooks up a lot of problems in the film.
My Big Fat Greek Wedding (2002) Nia Vardalos, John Corbett, Lainie Kazan, Michael Constantine, Gia Carides, Louis Mandylor, Joey Fatone, Bruce Gray, D: Joel Zwick.
Vardalos' one-woman show counteracts this undemanding but warm and enjoyable heritage-comedy with her as a 30-year-old Greek woman, working at her family restaurant in Chicago, who finally meets the man she loves, a WASP, which might not go with Dad's customs when him and the entire family finds out.
As far as comedy goes, it surprised me: almost all other comedy movies recently produced have a couple of good laughs, yet My Big Fat Greek Wedding left me with the impression there were almost no 15 seconds breaks without laughing out loud the entire length of the movie.
Most of the romantic comedies I have seen in the last five years have this aspect (that doesn't mean that they all suck {I love Chasing Amy and My Best Friend's Wedding}) but it was a change of pace and that isn't always a bad thing.
You don't have to be Greek to love this movie..
My Big Fat Greek Wedding is one of the funniest films I have ever seen.
I seriously don't think My Big Fat Greek Wedding was meant to be an art film.
By the time this goes to press My Big Fat Greek Wedding will have set a box-office record for an independent film.
This is the central problem in My Big Fat Greek Wedding.Nia Vardalos, the author of the play on which the movie is based, plays Toula Portokalos, a 30-year old "seating hostess" at the family restaurant.
This film reminded me of two other romantic comedies, While You Were Sleeping and Return to Me. But this film manages the same humor and charm without resorting to plot devices like rescuing a man thrown on the train tracks or finding out that your new love has your dead wife's heart.Like those stories, much of the charm comes from the quirky family and friends.
The characters seem like real people, and while the situations seem strange at points, they are close enough to possible that the viewer is easily caught up in the tale.In an era of special effects razzle-dazzle and movie spectaculars, I enjoyed this small film with a big heart.
Toula, played by Nia Vardalos, who also wrote the film, is a 30-year-old woman whose family fears will become an eternal spinster.
They fall in love and want to get married, but have to deal with the wrath of her family--mostly her father, played by Michael Constantine.The cast is perfect--especially Constantine, who we are often times convinced is Vardalos' actual father playing himself.The humor is mostly made of inside jokes from Greek culture.
And added to this is her crazy Greek family that makes us all laugh.Well I have seen in some reviews people saying that there are many movies about such ethnic wedding but I can't think of any other, which is maybe why I did like the movie.I wouldn't care for the main plot, it is pretty much nonexistent.
I think that the Greek theme makes this movie work.
I know a few Greek people and watching this movie was like sitting beside them at their house.And the filming was done in Toronto my favorite city in the world...What more is there for a great movie?.
My Big Fat Greek Wedding is not what i expected it to be at all.
"My Big Fat Greek Wedding " is not half as good.
My Big Fat Greek Overrated Formulaic Romantic Comedy.
There was no way that a movie that had this much good word of mouth could be anything but a lovely, endearing film.