Directed by Joel Zwick
Written by Nia Vardalos
Starring Nia Vardalos, John Corbett, Michael Constantine, Lainie Kazan
USA, 2002
My Big Fat Greek Wedding is an ethnic comedy, meaning it’s a self-reflective chuckle at the quirks and peculiarities of culture. Adapting her one-woman play, Nia Vardalos is the writer and the star of the show, and like so much of film and art and literature that explores that frictional, funny relationship immigrant and minority Americans have with their country, her movie is mainly set at family gatherings where all the comedy, traditions, and stereotypes are front and center.
The unpredicted success of this Tom Hanks-produced indie phenomenon is still a mystery. It’s very charming and mostly benign, substituting good cheer in place of originality. Vardalos’ script relies on the cute details of the Greek American picture she constructs – all the hearty “oompah”s, the ethnocentrism, and the Turk-hating grandmother delivered straight from Greece. The rest of the movie, the part that packages it as universal, is the love story between Toula Portokalos, Vardalos’ Greek ugly duckling, and Ian Miller, John Corbett’s shaggy WASP.
My Big Fat Greek Wedding manages to convey some of that goofy, smiling spirit that made the Italian spoof Moonstruck such a hit; the Greek elders are reminiscent of Olympia Dukakis in her Oscar-winning role (Andrea Martin is a particular delight as the witty, slightly embarrassing aunt), and Corbett gives a sleazier, pushier version of Nicolas Cage’s wide-eyed sappiness. The chemistry between the two lovebirds isn’t quite there. Vardalos has crafted a tasty trifle of comic writing, and has a good, commanding presence on her voice-over narration, but she’s a staring, gaping romantic lead.
To call this a cross-cultural romance would be a mistake, even though it is publicized and set up as such. The movie’s major mistake is the character of Ian, whom it unfortunately condescends to and perceives as the culturally hollow white man. The marriage isn’t the embracing of two unique backgrounds; Ian’s parents are country-club stiffs and he is the common denominator, the myth of the basic American without hyphenation. The movie either reflects a sad truth about the subtle devaluing of white ethnicity in our society, or it buys into America’s majority/minority falsehoods.
What makes the movie endearing is its simplicity. It’s a nice rest from the loud machinations of Hollywood, and there’s a place for it next to the recent Israeli movie Late Marriage, which has more bite and a darker, sobering edge. There’s something very pleasing about the laughs in My Big Fat Greek Wedding that befits the unchallenging leisure of good network television more than the wide screens and expensive ticket prices of the multiplex.
By Andrew Chan [SEPTEMBER 29, 2002; ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN THE CHARLOTTE OBSERVER]