Foreign flicks
My Big Fat Greek Wedding

Produced on a modest budget of $5 million, this romantic comedy was last year’s surprise smash hit, grossing over $130 million in the U.S.
Although the film never strays far from traditional stereotypes in its depiction of Greek-American family life, it manages to coast along mainly on the charms of its winsome heroine, a good, fat, ugly duckling who turns into a svelte swan courtesy will power and love pangs.Celebrated stand-up comedienne, scriptwriter-actress Nia Vardalos knocks out an endearing performance as the frumpy 30-something woman under constant parental pressure to get married.
She’s hopelessly attracted to a high school teacher (Corbett) from an upper-class family that’s anything but Greek. Expectedly, all hell breaks loose. How her clan finally accepts them, forms the sum and substance of the slight storyline.
All the members of the bride’s extended family are portrayed as cute eccentrics and speak with an unbearably shrill Greek accent. The climactic celebrations pale in comparison to the shaadi in Mira Nair’s Monsoon Wedding. Never mind. There’s sufficient comedy confetti here to keep you smiling through the 85-minute chuckle-fest.
Cast: Nia Vardalos, John Corbett
Direction: Joel Zwick