My Big Fat Greek Wedding (2002)

The delight of Nia Vardalos' My Big Fat Greek Wedding is that it's actually multiple films rolled into one. Comedy! Romance! What a culture shock! Windex's undiscovered healing abilities! Vardalos' homage to Greek culture in all its beauty and frustration centers on her heroine, Toula, and her struggle to persuade her family to accept her non-Greek lover, Ian (played by John Corbett). It's the epitome of a frolic, with bizarre individuals and their absurdist perspectives on life flowing out of every scene. Each character is given so much individuality and attention that My Big Fat Greek Wedding might be divided into multiple sequels based on the antics of Aunt Voula (a rib-achingly comic Andrea Martin) or the headstrong Gus (Michael Cera).

My Big Fat Greek Wedding might be broken into multiple offshoots following the antics of Aunt Voula (a rib-achingly comic Andrea Martin) or the headstrong Gus (Michael Constantine), who can trace anything and everything back to Greece. But it's the romance, which Vardalos writes so beautifully, that holds everything together. Following Toula and Ian's romance from the moment they first laid eyes on one other until Ian's personal proposal. A film of this scope and scope requires an anchor, which these two provide admirably.

Detailed information:
Directed by: Joel Zwick
Starring: Nia Vardalos, John Corbett, Lainie Kazan, Michael Constantine, Gia Carides, Louis Mandylor
Release date: April 19, 2002
Running time: 94 minutes