My Big Fat Greek Wedding: 2002
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| Watch Date: Week of 4/1 |
Ok, I have to admit that I started this Wedding Movie Review thing about 4 movies in, so I'm trying to make up for lost time so that I don't get way too behind.
The second movie we watched was My Big Fat Greek Wedding - an obvious choice for me as I claim that this is one of my favorite wedding movies of all time. Let's see if it lives up to my expectations....
My Big Fat Greek Wedding is a typical ugly-duckling-turns-swan movie where Toula (Nia Vardalos) is the younger daughter of Greek expats (Michael Constantine and Lainie Kazan) and their ginormous families. Toula is the "dorky kid" who went to Greek school instead of cheerleading, wore glasses and braces instead of colorful scrunchies and refused to get married just because "that's what good Greek girls did". So here she is, at age 30, looking like she stepped out of 5th grade, getting "old" and stuck in a crappy job at her family's diner going NOWHERE!
But then she sees Ian Miller (John Corbett), high school teacher and all-around cutie-pants hunk. This inspires her to stand up to her father, take computer classes, get a better job (at her Aunt's travel agency), curl her hair, get contacts, wear makeup and get sexy clothes. After this transformation the two start dating, decide to get married then the fun really begins. Toula's family is, shall we say, VERY involved in the wedding planning and again, the wedding stuff grows to ridiculous proportions and Toula goes along with it because...it is her family, after all.
I remembered this movie from a few years ago as being super-fun and I'm glad to say that my original impression was correct. It is super fun, but as you can see from the intro, it takes a while to really get into the wedding aspect. This time around, while watching I kept thinking "What? You STILL haven't met Ian?!" But, for all its length, the transformation from frumpy-Toula to gorgeous-Toula seemed rushed but too detailed. Though, it was a good transformation. She really did look pretty terrible in the beginning which is a feat because Nia is quite an attractive woman!
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| Put some Windex on it! |
The crazy family aspect was my favorite part of the movie, even though the dad was a bit narrow-minded. I LOVED all the aunts and cousins getting involved and taking liberties in deciding how "Greek" the wedding would be. (The answer is...very Greek!). I felt that the relationship that Toula had with her mother was pretty great and reminded me a lot of my relationship with my mother (maybe a few tens of pounds and a dozen relatives lighter). And conversely, the same goes for Toula and her father (though, admittedly, my father is way cooler in letting me marry whom I want to from the get-go). My family, again, is like hers (though less of them) - very enthusiastic during get-togethers with wild and crazy fun though they are more like wine/beer/cocktails people instead of Ouzo. The family were also what made the movie funny and I really appreciate that sort of person-related comedy style. You know - it's funny because people are quirky (it's that way in real life too! har de har har). I especially loved the Windex gags.
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| Are they REALLY in love? Ian is looking away instead of at her. |
What also felt rushed was the whirlwind romance between Toula and Ian, from first-meeting to "marry-me-after-we-just-had-sex" conversation. I'd rather that the relationship development to have happened before the movie rather than them trying to prove it all to me in a half hour or less. Thus, I didn't really buy their relationship until after the wedding (but maybe that's how it's supposed to be in real life?). In the end, it was still very touching and sweet and I was left warm and fuzzy.
Overall, I'd give this movie a 4 out of 5 stars since it hit all the right buttons as far as humor, happy tears, and snuggly feeling. Plus, I love montages.
Math's verdict: is 3 out of 5. He says "It was decent, it was fine, it was a fun time." Translation: he didn't really care either way. I know he wasn't groaning in agony but he won't be ecstatic about it if I said "Let's go see MBFGW at the drive-in!". (I wish we had a drive-in still....).
P.S. The computer classes that Toula takes, seem like they should be set more in the early/mid-1990s than early2000s. What I want to know is, was the movie set in a different time than it was filmed? Otherwise, it seems unrealistic.
Wedding Movie List:
3). The Wedding Singer
4). Made of Honor
5). The Wedding Crashers
6). Four Weddings and a Funeral
7). 27 Dresses
8). My Best Friend's Wedding
9). Bride Wars
10). The Wedding Planner
11). Bridesmaids
12). Muriel's Wedding
13). Runaway Bride
14). You Again
15). Something Borrowed
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