My Big Fat Greek Wedding
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I wish I had an ethnic background. And I mean that in a Politically-Correct and Respectful-of-Diversity way. Sure, I'm 12th generation American, but being a White Guy (sorry, European-American), my people's traditions are mostly stealing land from indigenous people, which we're not supposed to do any more, unless they have significant oil reserves. We don't have frequent extended-family gatherings where we exuberantly drink, dance, and yell "Hupa!" On the other hand, we don't have overwhelmingly rigid expectations about getting married, spewing out children, and working in the family business. I guess the grass is greener (sorry, the Grass is more Of Color) on the other side, since Toula Portokalos (played by Nia Vardalos, the screenwriter) wants to slip the bonds of her ethnic background and have a different life.
Those who are extremely PC-sensitive might criticize that much of the humor comes from those wacky Greeks' bigotry, cultural stereotypes, and isolationist xenophobia! Ha Ha! To Vardalos's credit, the humor is light and loving, not cruel. It's funny. I didn't even mind that non-ethnic-European-Americans were depicted as uptight and indistinguishable from each other. If you militantly feel any use of stereotype or ethnic-based humor is offensively non-PC, avoid this film. Normal people (sorry, People of Normal) will probably be amused by the exaggerated but affectionate treatment of Vardalos's heritage and cultural identity. It may even make you want to eat spanikopita, drink ouzo, and dance like Zorba in public.
If you liked the movies below, you'll probably like this one (and visa versa):
Eight-Facet Info Rating, rated on a scale of 0 (None) to 4 (Lots!)): |