She Likes DVDs.com Review

Title: My Big Fat Greek Wedding

By: Kyra Kirkwood

Genre: Romantic Comedy

Video: 1.85:1 Anamorphic Widescreen

Audio: Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround

Language: English

Subtitles: English Closed Captions, English Subtitles, French Subtitles, Spanish Subtitles, Greek Subtitles

Length: 95 minutes

Rating: PG

Studio: HBO Home Video

Release Date: Feb. 11, 2003

Suggested Retail: $26.95

Cast: Nia Vardalos, Michael Constantine, Lainie Kazan, John Corbett, Andrea Martin.

Director: Joel Zwick

Screenplay: Nia Vardalos,

Musical Score: Alexander Janko

Producers: Tom Hanks and Rita Wilson

Review: Everyone has already heard of this smash sleeper hit that destroyed all box-office records for an independent film. Made for just under $5 million, "My Big Fat Greek Wedding" went on to rake in more than $260 million at the box office. Perhaps the draw was the subject matter. Be she from Athens, Greece, or Athens, Alabama, a bride always deals with two constants as she prepares to marry: nerves and nutty families. Nia Vardalos took her classic Greek heritage and over-the-top family and used them as fodder for her one-woman show. Filled with rich characters, memorable dialog and hit-home themes, this act caught the eye of Tom Hanks (yes, THE Tom Hanks) and wife Rita Wilson, also Greek. Together, they brought "My Big Fat Greek Wedding" and all its resonant beauty to the big screen, where the rest of the world fell in love with it, too.

"My Big Fat Greek Wedding" is the tale of love overcoming all–even big families–without the traditional schmaltz so characteristic of today’s romances. Toula Portokalos, played brilliantly and wittily by Vardalos, is the film’s ugly duckling. Now 30, she still lives at home, wears coke-bottle classes and works in her family’s Greek restaurant in Chicago. Throughout her entire life, Toula has been told to marry a nice Greek boy, have many Greek babies and learn how to cook good Greek food for her ever-expanding extended family. But Toula wants more than all the hairy Greek men her father parades in front of her at dinner parties. She wants love, and a real life. So with the help of her mother and aunt, Toula embarks on a self-improvement campaign. Off go the glasses, the dumpy dresses and frumpy hairstyle. In go classes at the local college, a new job at her aunt’s travel agency and a fresh zeal for living. Then Toula gets what she only dreamed of: a love life. Ian Miller, a very non-Greek young man, falls for the new-and-improved Toula, and together they explore the pastures of love…while avoiding the minefields of a traditional Greek family not so keen on a non-Greek joining the circle. Both Toula and Ian must overcome each other’s families and their vast differences, but Vardalos’ quick-witted screenplay keeps even the most uncomfortable scenes (like the dinner party with Ian’s parents) from becoming anything less than realistically hysterical.

In fact, nearly every scene with the families is done with such realistic depth, most anyone of any ethnic background can identify. Who doesn’t have a strange aunt who likes to talk about her recent medical procedures? What about a risqué cousin who has no shame around boys? Or a mischievous younger brother who lives for practical jokes? We’ve all been there. If in doubt, look at your photo album under "Christmas" or "Fourth of July Family Reunion." And like Toula, we’ll realize that our families embarrass us, drive us crazy, and make us doubt we’d be able to live a day without them.

In the end of the movie, Toula understands she can have everything she dreamed of: love, in all its complex forms. Vardalos’ movie came at the right time for America, sort of like how "Rocky" rescued millions of theater goers at a time when our nation needed a hero the most. Now, our nation needs a bit of love and laughter, some hope that even though we may all come from different parts of the globe, we’re all pretty much the same. How did Toula’s very proud father put it at the very big fat wedding reception? "Even if our names mean something different, we’re all fruit."

Extras: Not so much. Like the film, they’re trim and compact, but not lacking in depth. Aside from the trailer and chapter selections, the DVD boasts of a feature-length audio commentary by director Joel Zwick, Nia Vardalos and John Corbett. The best parts are when Vardalos reveals how the film parallels her life. Viewers are also made privy to behind-the-scenes anecdotes, the Hanks/Wilson connection and how the film went from small stage to big screen. It’s not much in terms of bells and whistles, but this main extra is wholesome and enjoyable. Of course, I would have enjoyed more features, such as some outtakes, or maybe a Greek-language converter so we could trace every English word back to its Greek roots, just as Mr. Portokalos so proudly (and so often) does.

Picture and Sound: Presented in 1.85:1 anamorphic widescreen, the transfer looks good. To be honest, I was so enmeshed in the colorful details of the characters that the entire picture could have faded to black and white and I’d be hard pressed to notice. Luckily, the transfer stayed crisp, clear and colorful throughout the entire 95 minutes. Even the night scenes in Chicago escaped fuzziness. The sound is also just as clean. The music–from the underlying score to the foot-stomping tunes of the reception–came across clear and sharp. Nothing too major taxed the sound effects of the disc, though. Except perhaps the dozen or so times the crowds exploded in choruses of "Opa!"

Final Comments: "My Big Fat Greek Wedding" is one for the DVD collection. Obviously, the extras aren’t the draw here. Get this disc for the rich screenplay, the vibrant characters and the universal themes of love and family.

Five-Minute Review

• Movie: "My Big Fat Greek Wedding"

• Picture: Good color, no obvious defects

• Sound: Crisp Surround Sound

• Extras: Not much, but wholesome and enjoyable

• List of Extras: Chapter selections, trailers, cast bios and a feature-length commentary with cast and crew