By EWAN McDONALD
(Herald rating: * * *)
Margarita Ibrahimoff is the woman to thank for one of the most successful independent films. A couple of years ago, a young Greek-American actress, Nia Vardalos, turned her family life into a one-woman play. After seeing the comedy show (and presumably, falling about laughing),
the former Ms Ibrahimoff went home and talked her husband into putting up $5 millon to turn it into a movie.
The fact that Ms Ibrahimoff and her husband had their own big fat Greek wedding in 1988 probably helped. The fact that she is better known as Rita Wilson and her husband as Tom Hanks didn't hurt none, either.
Vardalos plays Toula Portokalos, a Greek thirtysomething who works at Dancing Zorba's, a restaurant run by her traditional father and traditionally domineering mother. She knows that her life's work is "to marry a Greek man, to have Greek children, and to feed everyone until the day she dies."
Fed up with all this, Toula gives herself a life-makeover and attracts a tall, dark and handsome high-school teacher, Ian Miller (John Corbett) which, our more observant readers will have picked up, is not a Greek name. Which leads to ructions within the families when they decide to marry. However, Ian agrees to be baptised into the Greek Orthodox church.
From there it's all cross-cultural chaos between his uptight, conservative parents and her parents, aunts, uncles and 27 first cousins, a riot of singing, dancing and moussaka, true love conquering all. Good entertainment but you can't help thinking: this would have been a great movie if the Aussies had done it, and kept it small and grounded, like The Castle or The Dish.
DVD features: movie (95min); commentary with director, writer, star Nia Vardalos, John Corbett and Joel Zwick; Greek School (facts on all things Greek, especially food); Guest List (filmographies, interviews with cast and crew); trailer.
