Posted:
04/28/02© 2002 Filmmonthly.com
My Big Fat Greek Wedding (2002)
by Tracy Scanlon
Veteran Second City artist writes and stars in her own autobiography.
Nia
Vardalos, a veteran actor from Chicago's Second City, wrote and stars in
her autobiography about on her Greek family and the introduction of her
non-Greek, or Xeno, husband into this charmingly eccentric clan. As Toula Portokalos, Vardalos revives the same sprightly funny and sentimental humor as she created in her one-woman show by the same name as the film. Toula is 30 years old, unmarried, and working at her parents' restaurant. While the idea of working at Dancing Zorba's for the rest of her life seems to be a fate worse than hell for this earthy beauty, her unmarried status causes her less grief than it does her traditional parents played by Michael Constantine and Lani Kazan.
The film routs through an array of overbearing
ethnic family members as Toula's funny if somewhat familiar comments give
hope to those in similar situations. When Ian (John Corbett - HBO's Sex
and the City), a Waspish high school teacher who is, unforgivably
for this meat eating family, a 
vegetarian
pops into her life, Toula tosses the thick glasses, abandons the shapeless
clothes, and gets herself a new do, Cinderella style.
The star-crossed lovers reach a real wrinkle when a cousin spots Toula and Ian in a compromising situation, forcing her father into a full-blown frenzy. Without fearing I'll give away the movie (check out the title), they end up happily with a light blue limo, ten gaudily dressed bridesmaids, two ice sculptures, and a wedding cake to match. As a matter of fact, the couple seem so impossibly perfect it begs the question, "Is this another Julia Roberts movie?"
The plot may look thin on paper, but it
has the universal theme of wacky family, and understandable if expected
Greek jokes, such as when Toula introduces some of her 27 cousins as 
"Nick,
Nick, Nick, Nick, Nick, Nick, Nick, Nicky, and Gus." She also bemoans
the lot in life for a Greek girl, namely to marry a Greek man, have Greek
children, and to feed everyone until the day she dies.
The only detriments to this film are the heavy handed directing of TV veteran Joel Zwick, Mr. And Mrs. Portokalos almost upstaging the quiet-in-comparison Toula, and the fact that someone let Joey Fatone, a John Travolta wannabe member of N'Sync, in the flick.
My Big Fat Greek Wedding is a funny and touching story of love, laughter, and a family you can't leave behind.
Tracy Scanlon is a writer working part-time as a bartender when she's not teaching high school or reviewing films. She lives in Chicago.