Review of My Big Fat Greek Wedding

Introduction

Word of mouth helped MBFGW become a huge international film defying its independent film origins. Produced by husband and wife producers Tom Hanks and Rita Wilson, MBFGW stars its writer, Nia Vardalos, in the lead acting role and it`s based on her own personal experience. She paints the picture of a very large and quirky family, which is big on traditional family values and maintaining its own culture.

What happens when you`re a single 30-year old Greek female? You`re supposed to get married to a nice Greek boy, have babies and take care of your elders, of course. Nevertheless, what happens if you defy your father and fall in love with a non-Greek? Welcome to the things big Greek families entail...

Toula Portokalos (Nia Vardalos), is the Greek 30-year old who falls in love with American Ian Miller (John Corbett). The course of true love never runs straight however and Toula faces stubborn opposition from her family and her traditional father. Winning over the father doesn`t prove easy and Ian faces challenges that some might shy away from. He`s determined to marry Toula and won`t let anything stand in his way, not even the Greek comedy.

Video

For a recent film, MBFGW has a slightly grainy 1.85:1 widescreen enhanced video transfer. Colours and detail are okay and the graining doesn`t affect the film too greatly. Some scenes look better than others. Despite this minor problem I couldn`t see any other digital video problems at all. Film direction is simple and follows the story and its characters.

Audio

Presented with a Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack, MBFGW isn`t the kind of film that utilises all sound channels. It`s a dialogue driven film so this comes across well from the centre and music and effects are spread well enough across the front. The surrounds don`t really flex at all except for some of the music.

Features

Easy to navigate animated menus with Greek and English.

• Trailer (2:08) - A long spoiler ridden trailer.

• Guest List - Short interviews and biographies with the main cast and crew including producers Rita Wilson and Tom Hanks. Interesting the first time around but you`re not likely to look at this again.

• Production Notes - 11 static pages of how the film came about with its cast and crew. A lot of overlap with the Guest List and audio commentary makes this piece dull.

• Greek School - this is a trivia track that pops up all kinds of relevant/irrelevant titbits of text onscreen as you watch the film. This can be stuff about the Olympic Games to the kind of Greek coffee being used, and later on there are random `pop quiz` questions to see if you`ve been paying attention. Some of this is good and some of it is dull.

• Audio Commentary - Featuring Nia Vardalos (Toula Portokalos), John Corbett (Ian Miller) and Joel Zwick (Director) this commentary is an interesting extra. There are some interesting and insightful things on the track, which makes this more interesting than the film itself.

There are no subtitles.

Conclusion

MBFGW made an enormous amount of money at the box-office becoming the biggest grossing independent picture of all time and it`s not hard to see why. It`s a light romantic comedy and has nothing whatsoever offensive. Sadly for me, the comedy falls flat since it`s largely based on Greek stereotypes. This isn`t just prevalent with Greeks however and is similar to other nationalities too, so while I understand how the families can be, the observant humour here isn`t sharp or sophisticated enough to win me over. Take away the Greek family and it`s just another `son/daughter breaking away from the traditional family` and all that ensues such as going out with someone of a different cultural background. There`s the prospect of marriage and a bringing together of the two different cultures despite opposition from the stubborn Greek father who must be won over. It`s predictable, safe and tries too hard to be funny. The film attempts to cram so many Greek situations into the story that there`s less focus on developing character and story and this results in a superficial fairytale story. There`s no chemistry in the leads either.

Despite the shortcomings, the film did have one or two moments and this is mainly at the expense of the Greek father. His `Windex` cures all and `every word is derived from Greek` is amusing, if a little repetitive. Casting wise there are no standouts and everyone does their job. If you were looking for a light, airy and predictable romantic comedy then this would suit. It doesn`t cater for much in the way of repeated viewings however so renting might be a more preferable option.