This is the pattern throughout the film. The father is the domestic tyrant whose every decree is law. The women have to spend their lives working around him, every idea must be fed to him so that he thinks that it's his own. He spends the rest of his life in extended explanations of how every word in any language has a Greek root. It's supposed to be sweet and endearing. I found it arrogant, ignorant and obnoxious.

Toula uses her newfound skills and a few lies to emerge into a swan. She curls her hair, gets contacts and with help gets a job in another family enterprise -- the travel agency. Now she gets to meet (again) Ian Miller (John Corbett), and to discover the joys of forbidden love. When he asks her to marry him, the culture clashes increase dramatically. His family, her family. He must be baptised to be married in a Greek church.

It's all done in good humour, and the film-makers obviously have a fondness for the idiosyncratic Greek American lifestyle, but I'll never use Windex again.

A love story with lamb on a spit.

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by Ali Kayn Due for Australian release 24 October 2002 For credits and official site details, see below Search Festivale for more work by the film-makers below. See also: Nia Vardalos (My Life in Ruins, I Hate Valentine's Day)

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Just the facts: Title: My Big Fat Greek Wedding (2002) Written by: Nia Vardalos Directed by: Joel Zwick running time: 95 mins rating: G The Players: Nia Vardalos, Michael Constantine, John Corbett, Jayne Eastwood, Official website: IMDb entry For session times of current films, use the cinema listings on the Movie links page. For scheduled release dates, see the coming attractions section. For more information about this movie, check out the internet movie database. For the latest additions to Festivale, check out the change history section.