Two guys and a movie: ‘Greek Wedding’ grade A-
My sister has a friend from back east who is an only child. She has one aunt, one uncle and two cousins. When my sister got married, her friend attended the reception and met our family. I have five brothers and sisters, four sets of aunts and uncles on each side of the family and close to 50 cousins – a good one-third of which are married with children of their own. Most of them attended the reception, and of course, chaos reigned supreme.
What I’m trying to get at is that her experience with my “huge Mormon family” must have been near what Ian Miller (John Corbett) experienced in “My Big Fat Greek Wedding.” This was a film about being different, accepting your heritage – even if you don’t like it – and recognizing it is OK to live your life the way you want to.
It didn’t have the best acting in the world. There was nothing overly amazing about the script, and CG effects and high-speed chases were not there. Yet, this was a good movie. I think the main reason is because it was an honest movie with heart. The script was written by the film’s star, Nia Vardalos, who plays a 30-year-old, single, Greek woman who wants more out of her life than working at the family restaurant.
She goes to school, falls in love with a non-Greek (a big no-no as far as her family is concerned) and has to deal with introducing him (and his parents) to her family while learning to appreciate her heritage. I don’t know if Vardalos was writing from experience, but the film came from the heart. All of us can relate to having crazy families.
And Vardalos has proven Hollywood doesn’t need anorexic actresses and stacked actors to make a love story work. Greek Wedding was made for $5 million and has grossed more than $100 million since it’s release last April. Although it is an ensemble piece, Vardalos steals the show with her wishful and innocent portrayal of Toula.
N’Sync member Joey Fontane also appeared in the film, but luckily he was only in five scenes. “Rent” on Broadway is a good show for him to be in because anyone can be in it without having any acting talent.
Overall, this is a cute, feel-good romantic comedy worth the $6 at the theater. It’s a combination of “Meet the Parents” and “The Singles Ward” with a good dousing of feta cheese and olive oil. It has done what “The Others” did last year – quietly opened and then garnered the word-of-mouth advertising. It woke up America and made them go Greek.
Jared is a senior studying business information systems. Comments can be sent to jwsterz@cc.usu.edu.