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

Details

Country:

Canada USA

Language:

English Greek

Release Date:

2 August 2002 (USA)

Also Known As:

Mariage à la grecque

Filming Locations:

Showline Studios, Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Box Office

Budget:

$5,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$597,362, 21 April 2002, Limited Release

Gross USA:

$241,438,208, 13 April 2003

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

Did You Know?

Trivia

According to Nia Vardalos, paying for catering during the film proved not to be a problem. Wherever the film was being shot, whenever local Greek restaurants learned about it, they sent over lots of free food.

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Goofs

A Canada-Post mail truck is visible in the distance, outside the travel agency window. For that matter, the Pappas Grill opposite the street is a well-known Toronto restaurant on Danforth Avenue.

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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 The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon: Blake Shelton/Andrea Martin (2017)

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Soundtracks

Kefi In Katavia
Performed by Emmanuel Kiriakou (as Eman)
Written by Emmanuel Kiriakou (as Emanuel Kiriakou)
Published by Roditis Music
Courtesy of Lunapark Entertainment

User Reviews

A movie much better than anticipated

I have seen many movies in the past year, some have been wonderful and some have been downright terrible. My Big Fat Greek Wedding has to be one of the best written and best acted comedies I think I have seen in a long time. While the concept of making a movie about weddings is not unique, I believe that those of us who either have gone through planning a wedding or have experiences with family having too much influence in our lives will relate to this movie better than other wedding movies.

This movie is about an ordinary rather plain looking thirty something unmarried woman who comes from a large extended Greek family. All Greek women are expected to go to Greek school, find a good Greek man, marry him and have lots of Greek babies according to the narrator who is also the main character in the movie. This simple premise is what sets us off in almost two hours of raucous humor centered around planning a wedding where a couple coming from completely different backgrounds has to deal with all the external pressures that happen when two people decide to go down the aisle together.

This movie has several very heartwarming and somewhat emotional scenes in it so don't expect it is just a funny movie. Acting in this movie on all characters was very well done and very believable. I thought however that the roles of the Grooms Mother and Father were rather flat and two dimensional. This movie reminded me quite a bit of Father of the Bride starring Steve Martin, except in this case, the writers for Monty Python obtained the script for final treatment. While the writers for Monty Python did not actually write this movie but was instead written by the leading lady, there were some moments where it appeared that the humor was drawn right out of a book of British comedy. All in all I felt that the whole movie had a British feel to it.

This movie will delight you and leave you with a smile on your face. While the audience in the theater was more of an adult composition, I do not remember any nudity or adult language in the entire picture which means this movie is one that the whole family can see together. I would wholeheartedly recommend this movie to anyone who would like a good laugh.