My Big Fat Greek Wedding (2002)

A young Greek woman falls in love with a non-Greek and struggles to get her family to accept him while she comes to terms with her heritage and cultural identity.

Director:

Joel Zwick

Writer:

Nia Vardalos

Stars:

Nia Vardalos, John Corbett, Michael Constantine

Nominated for 1 Oscar. Another 20 wins & 28 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Nia Vardalos	...	Toula Portokalos
Michael Constantine	...	Gus Portokalos
Christina Eleusiniotis	...	Toula Portokalos - Age 6
Kaylee Vieira	...	Schoolgirl
John Kalangis	...	Greek Teacher
Lainie Kazan	...	Maria Portokalos
Marita Zouravlioff	...	Toula Portokalos - Age 12
Sarah Osman	...	Athena Portokalos - Age 15
Petra Wildgoose	...	Car Pool Friend
Melissa Todd	...	Car Pool Friend
Bess Meisler	...	Yiayia
Andrea Martin	...	Aunt Voula
Louis Mandylor	...	Nick Portokalos
Gerry Mendicino	...	Uncle Taki
Stavroula Logothettis	...	Athena

Storyline

Toula Portokalos is 30, Greek, and works in her family's restaurant, Dancing Zorba's, in Chicago. All her father Gus wants is for her to get married to a nice Greek boy. But Toula is looking for more in life. Her mother convinces Gus to let her take some computer classes at college (making him think it's his idea). With those classes under her belt, she then takes over her aunt's travel agency (again making her father think it's his idea). She meets Ian Miller, a high school English teacher, WASP, and dreamboat she had made a fool of herself over at the restaurant; they date secretly for a while before her family finds out. Her father is livid over her dating a non-Greek. He has to learn to accept Ian; Ian has to learn to accept Toula's huge family, and Toula has to learn to accept herself.

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Plot Keywords:

greek | greek restaurant | prejudice | travel agency | baptism | 

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Taglines:

Love is here to stay... so is her family.

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Genres:

Comedy | Drama | Romance

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG for sensuality and language

Did You Know?

Trivia

The opening scene where Nia Vardalos and Michael Constantine travel in the early morning to open the restaurant was one of the very last scenes filmed. Vardalos said all of the other cast members had finished their scenes and had left, and so the sadness she and Constantine displayed in that car scene reflected the tearful goodbyes they had said.

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Goofs

When Ian and his friend Mike are at the check-out in the restaurant, in one shot his briefcase is tucked under his coat. In the next shot it is in his left hand.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Gus Portokalos: [to Toula] You better get married soon. You're starting to look... old!

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Crazy Credits

Opening credits: All E's are replaced by the Greek letter Sigma.

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Connections

Referenced in Mixed Nuts (2017)

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Soundtracks

Viennese Blood
Written by Johann Strauss (as Strauss)
Arranged by J. Ten Kortenaar
Published by Ocean Ridge Music I
Courtesy of Promusic, Inc.

User Reviews

A simple story about a girl in love.

My Big Fat Greek Wedding is a very simple, funny romance story that would probably be most appreciated by female audiences.

Nia Vardalos (the film's writer and star) is Toula Portokalos, a quiet young woman from a zany Greek family. As she explains in the great flashback introduction, all her life she has been brought up to be strictly Greek. But, the same upbringing also contains some traditional absuridites that she can't understand, although her parent's wish that she would adhere to. Toula's upbringing has only allowed her to look forward to one thing at this point in her life: get married to a nice Greek boy and have lots of babies.

This is not something Toula wants to here, and eventually, she gains the courage to break out of her introverted shield and gradually change herself into a bold, lovely woman. She stops working at her family's resturaunts and starts taking computer classes at the local college, which lead her not only to a better appreciation for herself, but leads to a job at her aunt's travel agency where she meets Ian Miller (Jon Corbet), and that is where our story begins.

Toula and Ian are in love, really very much so. But, this troubles Toula's mother and father, with her father (Michael Constantine) being more strict in traditional Greek upbringing than her mother (Lanie Kazan), when Ian proposes to Toula. For Toula's father, it is bad enough that she quit the family business to go to school and everything. But it is simply out of the question for him that she marry a non-Greek. So, Toula is torn between the two. This is a movie very much in the spirit of films like Bend it Like Beckham and somewhat like the Joy Luck Club in addressing roles of tradition in future generations of immigrants and the possibility and reason for preservation of such traditions.

Of course the film is a very simple movie, a simple love story, but a funny one nonetheless. We see the contrast between Toula's Greek upbringing, and Ian's very quiet, conservative family. Everyone was fantastic in this film, especially Lainie Kazan as Toula's mom, Michael Constantine as her father, and the wonderfully hilarious Andrea Martin as Toula's Aunt Voula.

I don't know the reason for so many negative reviews for this movie. I would say it was probably the best movie I saw in 2002, and one that I have seen many times since just because it a lovely little (and funny) story about a girl in love.

Details

Country:

Canada USA

Language:

English Greek

Release Date:

2 August 2002 (USA)

Also Known As:

My Big Fat Greek Wedding

Filming Locations:

Showline Studios, Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Box Office

Budget:

$5,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$597,362, 21 April 2002

Gross USA:

$241,438,208

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$368,744,044

Company Credits

Production Co:

Gold Circle Films, Home Box Office (HBO), MPH Entertainment Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

95 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby SR

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1