My Life in Ruins (2009)

A travel guide rediscovers her romantic side on a trip around Greece.

Director:

Donald Petrie

Writer:

Mike Reiss

Stars:

Nia Vardalos, Richard Dreyfuss, Alexis Georgoulis

1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Nia Vardalos	...	Georgia
Richard Dreyfuss	...	Irv
Alexis Georgoulis	...	Poupi
Alistair McGowan	...	Nico
Harland Williams	...	Big Al
Rachel Dratch	...	Kim
Caroline Goodall	...	Dr. Tullen
Ian Ogilvy	...	Mr. Tullen
Sophie Stuckey	...	Caitlin
María Botto	...	Lala
María Adánez	...	Lena
Brian Palermo	...	Marc
Jareb Dauplaise	...	Gator
Simon Gleeson	...	Ken
Natalie O'Donnell	...	Sue

Storyline

Georgia is an American academic who's lost her teaching job in Athens. She's taken a job as a tour guide, but she hates it and it shows: the tourists, mostly American, are bored with history and facts; they want to shop. Every group has a goofy couple, a frat boy, a sullen teen, a feuding couple, divorcées looking for a mate, and a funny guy. This group is no exception, plus there's no air conditioning and a bearded silent driver. Thanks to an unlikely friendship, plus daisies, an ice-cream cone, the history of syrup, and the Oracle at Delphi, Georgia may have a shot at finding her kefi during this four-day tour.

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Plot Keywords:

american | air conditioning | tour guide | syrup | tourist | 

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Taglines:

The most fun you can have without a passport.

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Genres:

Comedy | Romance

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for sexual content

Details

Official Sites:

Official site

Country:

USA Spain

Language:

English

Release Date:

5 June 2009 (USA)

Also Known As:

Mi vida en ruinas

Filming Locations:

Acropolis, Athens, Greece

Box Office

Budget:

$17,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

$3,223,161 (USA) (5 June 2009)

Gross:

$8,662,318 (USA) (28 August 2009)

Company Credits

Production Co:

26 Films, Kanzaman

Technical Specs

Runtime:

95 min 98 min (European Film Market)

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital DTS SDDS

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Ian Gomez, who appears as the creepy Hotel Clerk, is the real life husband of Nia Vardalos.

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Goofs

There are many scenes where you can see clearly they were filmed in Spain, not in Greece. Most noticeable, the hotel they stay at the night before going to the beach is the HOTEL MIRAMAR ("sea view" in Spanish). Also the phone in the room is Spanish, some of the machines used in a close-by job-site belong to a Spanish rental company.

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Quotes

Irv: I have a question.
Georgia: Yeah.
Irv: [referring to Dr. Tullen, who is covered head-to-toe] What's with the beekeeper?
Mr. Tullen: My wife needs protection from the sun!
Irv: But we're not going to the sun.

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Connections

References 300 (2006)

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Soundtracks

"Ta Pedia Tou Pirea"
(1960)
Nusic by Manos Hatzidakis (as Manos Hadjidakis)
Eglish Lyrics by Billy Towne
Published by EMI Unart Catalog, Inc. (BMI)

User Reviews

A Guilty Pleasure

My Life in Ruins is corny, clichéd, predictable and a totally fun way to spend an afternoon. Every now then a movie will come along and change your life. This is not one of those movies. It is not highly original or well acted but it is a funny and feel good film. My Life in Ruins is about tour guide Georige (Nia Vardalos) who is bored with her job, disappointed with life and generally just too uptight. Thanks to a tour passenger Irv (Richard Deyfuss) who takes on a guardian angel role and a sexy "ugly swan" bus driver (Alexis Georgoulis), Georgie begins to look at life on a whole new level. Some of this movie is a little one dimensional. The Australian tourist whose singular role in the movie is to prove no one can understand us and that we like drinking way too much were a little corny. However, none of this stops the movie from being funny, fun and really entertaining. Vardolos continues to be a delight on screen and her co-star Alexis Georgoulis is really really hot. My advice is see this film, take along some high fat snacks and don't feel guilty about either. After all, as the film preaches life is too short to do anything else.