Opa! (2005)

Director:

Udayan Prasad

Writers:

Christina Concetta (associate writer)
Raman Singh (associate writer)

Genre:

Comedy

Tagline:

The Island ... The Treasure ... The Romance

Plot:

A modern day treasure hunt for a mystical relic that turns into a love story for all time. |

Cast

Matthew Modine	...	Eric
Richard Griffiths	...	Tierrney
Agni Scott	...	Katerina
Alki David	...	Spiros Kakogiannis
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Panayota Aravantzi
Mihalis Giannatos	...	Hektor
Shuler Hensley	...	Big Mac McLaren
Alexandros Koliopoulos	...	3rd Bureaucrat
Eirini Koumarianou	...	Yaya Adriana
Stathis Nikolaidis	...	1st Bureaucrat
Efi Papatheodorou	...	3rd Yaya
Grigoris Pimenidis	...	Yorgos
Titika Sarigouli	...	2nd Yaya
Stavros Sioulis	...	Kostas
Hristos Valavanidis	...	Mayor
Costas Xikominos	...	2nd Bureaucrat
Zozo Zarpa	...	1st Yaya

MPAA:

Rated PG-13 for some nudity and brief strong language.

Runtime:

Greece:100 min | USA:100 min

Country:

UK | Greece

Language:

English | Greek

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

USA:PG-13 (certificate #45614)

Filming Locations:

Greece

Company:

Cinema 7

Review from 2005 TIFF

*** This comment may contain spoilers ***

I saw this film at the 2005 Toronto International Film Festival.

In Opa!, Matthew Modine plays Eric, an American archaeologist who uses all sorts of technology like satellites and radar to determine the best place to dig for artifacts. He comes to a small Greek island to meet with a colleague, played by Richard Griffiths, and to further his dead father's quest for the cup of St. John. Not long after arriving, Eric falls for the charms of single mother Katerina (Agni Scott) who owns a local restaurant. Soon, however, Eric's professional and personal lives are put into conflict and he must choose which one he cares about more.

Directed by Udayan Prasad (My Son the Fanatic), Opa! is like a postcard for the Greek isles. The amazing scenery is like a character itself in the movie and provides a backdrop for the story. Modine is good as Eric and his personality fits the character well. Agni Scott provides a spark and makes it easy to see how Eric could fall for her. The supporting cast is good as well, from Richard Griffiths to Alki David as Katerina's friend and even the three old women in the film that act from time to time as a "Greek" chorus.

Overall the film is entertaining, although a friend and I debated whether one situation at the end of the film would be better served by being explicitly shown rather than implied and off-screen. As well, Eric's relationship to his father is discussed enough in the film to make it seem significant, but that storyline is never quite pursued.