REVIEW: MY BIG FAT GREEK WEDDING - I realize that probably 95% of you have already seen this big fat Greek hit, but its jaw-dropping success compels me to post a few comments. My Big Fat Greek Wedding had its highest showing at the box office last weekend -- its 20th week of release -- finishing #2 behind Signs with $14.5 million. With a budget of under $5 million and a box office take of $82 million (and rising!) to date, it has to be one of the most profitable movies of all-time. I finally saw the surprise hit about a week ago and I can say that while it by no means blew me away, I certainly understand why it has generated so much positive word-of-mouth. It's cute, funny, and it touches on subjects almost everyone over the age of 20 can relate to: falling in love, figuring out your purpose in life, and, of course, the torture of trying to stage a wedding these days -- whether your family is Greek or otherwise. Based on her one-woman play, Greek Wedding stars Nia Vardalos as Toula, a frumpy, unmarried thirty-something who hates working at her family's Greek restaurant and dreams of changing her life. Her family wants her to find a nice Greek boy and start pumping out kids, but Toula decides to enroll in college classes and use her computer skills to work at her aunt's travel agency. In the meantime, she pulls one of those 80s movie geek-to-hottie routines -- dumps the glasses, gets her hair done, buys some new clothes -- and suddenly, the self-conscious ugly duckling blossoms into a confident swan. Toula's transformation attracts the attention of a high school English teacher named Ian (John Corbett); the problem is, he's not Greek, which her fanatically patriotic father has some trouble accepting. A few weeks ago somebody wrote in to Roger Ebert's Movie Answer Man complaining that they couldn't swallow the fact that a "hunk" like Corbett (Northern Exposure, Sex and the City) would fall in love with Vardalos' character -- that she isn't attractive enough. Ebert rightfully rebuked the reader, though not for the same reasons I would. In my opinion, Corbett just isn't all that "hunky," while Vardalos is definitely attractive enough to garner the affections of a good-looking guy. (Click here to see Corbett and here to see Vardalos.) My complaint would be that Ian isn't too good-looking -- he's just too good. He's one of these dream guys that's cute but sensitive, smart but not pedantic, confident but unassuming, and he always says the right thing and supports Toula even when he has good reason to show a hint of anger or impatience. (Quick digression: Is it just me, or is every high school English teacher portrayed as the "perfect guy" in movies?) I hate to disrespect my gender, but as most women will probably tell you, guys like this simply do not exist. It's a total fantasy, and yet the relationship works because of the chemistry between Corbett and Vardalos. I actually enjoyed and laughed more at their courtship scenes than I did the over-the-top scenes with Toula's loud, abrasive family. Admittedly, a lot of the jokes in these scenes are pretty funny, but there are many others that scream "one woman show." The film is also too earnest at times and relies on a few too many cliches. The scene where Toula's boneheaded brother, a cook in the family restaurant who has a knack for drawing, tells Toula that she has inspired him to go to school and take art classes, oozes greeting card sappiness. Even worse is his parting bit of advice not to let her family run her life, but to never forget where she came from. I would have written the actual quote down but I think I was too much in awe of her brother's Confucious-like wisdom to grab my pen. I'm ripping on this movie now and I don't really mean to. If you haven't seen it yet, check it out, I doubt you'll be disappointed. The love story is charming enough and most of the jokes work, especially if you've ever had the misfortune of having to plan a wedding.

E-mail CinemaScoped@hotmail.com or start a discussion in the Feedback Forum