My Big Fat Greek Wedding Blu-ray delivers stunning video and solid audio in this excellent Blu-ray release
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.
My Big Fat Greek Wedding is the little film that could. It was made independently for about $5
million by Tom Hanks's Playtone production company, after actress Rita Wilson, a/k/a Mrs.
Hanks, saw writer and star Nia Vardalos perform the script as a one-woman show at an obscure Los
Angeles venue. When the film opened in April 2002, it played on just over a hundred screens,
because neither Playtone nor any of its producing partners could afford (or would fund) a wider
release. The distributor was tiny IFC Films. But one year later, the gentle comedy that Vardalos
based on the pandemonium that erupted in her extended family when she announced she was
marrying a non-Greek had grossed over $240 million. Such is the power of word-of-mouth.
But word-of-mouth requires something good to talk about. Vardalos' script ingeniously
synthesized two familiar elements in a mix that has never been replicated in quite the same way.
One element was the comedy of ethnic family life in America, epitomized by Moonstruck. The
other was the traditional romantic comedy in which true love triumphs and the lovers fated for
each other live happily ever after, but not before overcoming obstacles that provide opportunities
for both warmth and laughter. In recent years, the romantic comedy has become an endangered
species, as screenwriters seem to have forgotten how to imagine credible obstacles for a star-crossed couple to overcome. Instead,
they resort to cringe-inducing devices like making the man
a boor, the woman a bitch, or both partners emotionally immature and unable to commit, all of
which has to be resolved by third-act contrivances that aren't remotely convincing.
Vardalos, by contrast, gave audiences the story of a grown-up couple deeply in love (though not
without the insecurities that beset all persons contemplating marriage). The obstacles came from
somewhere that millions of viewers could instantly understand and relate to: their families.
The wedding of the title is that of Toula Portokalos (Nardalos), one of three children of Gus and
Maria (Michael Constantine and Lainie Kazan), a Chicago family that exemplifies the American
immigrant dream. Having entered the country with (as he likes to tell it) eight dollars in his
pocket, Gus is now the successful owner of Dancing Zorba's restaurant and the de facto head of a
huge extended family that includes Maria's sister, Aunt Voula (the brilliant Andrea Martin), who
runs a travel agency.
Toula's father loves her dearly, but worries that she's thirty and unmarried, while her sister
already has a husband and two children. Why can't she wed a nice Greek boy? As Toula explains
in an opening voiceover, none has ever asked her. She works in the restaurant, but has other
ambitions. With her mother's help, she persuades Gus to send her to community college for
computer training and then to lend her out to her aunt to run the travel agency, where she
blossoms.
It's there that she meets Ian Miller (John Corbett), whom she'd previously seen at Zorba's dining
with his friend Mike (Ian Gomez, Vardalos' real husband, whose life Corbett was portraying).
They are perfect for each other from the start, except for the obvious problem that Ian isn't
Greek. When Toula's cousin Nikki (Gia Carides, all big hair and attitude) informs her that
they've been seen by "the family", it's time to get serious.
The title leaves no doubt that Toula and Ian are headed toward the altar. The film is about the
cultural clashes that occur en route. In the first half, Toula introduces her family, its heritage and
its eccentricities to the audience; in the second, viewers get the pleasure of feeling like insiders
while newcomers, in the form of Ian's staid parents (Fiona Reid and Bruce Gray) are thrown into
the deep end of the same experience. Ian doesn't get off lightly either, as he volunteers to
undergo baptism in the Greek Orthodox Church so that Toula's family will accept him as an
honorary Greek. Cousin Nikki becomes his godmother and makes the most of the opportunity.
Vardalos' script cleverly sets Toula and Ian as the straight men surrounded by comics, and
director Joel Zwick, a veteran of TV comedies with quirky premises like Tom Hanks's
breakthrough, Bosom Buddies, seems to have an instinctive grasp of just how "big" to push the
eccentric behavior without going over the top. He is helped immeasurably by the presence of
such seasoned pros as Constantine, Kazan and especially Martin, the SCTV veteran whose
inspired improvs often risked ruining takes by cracking up the rest of the cast (but frequently
ended up in the film).
Cinematographer Jeffrey Jur has had a long and varied career that includes the musical numbers
of Dirty Dancing, the hard-boiled realism of
The Last Seduction, the stylized artificiality of
HBO's Carnivàle and the sun-drenched hyper-reality of Showtime's Dexter. For My Big Fat
Greek Wedding, Jur went for an everyday look that's just a touch brighter, like the colors
generally favored by the women in Toula's family. Like the personalities, the lighting on the
Portokalos family is subtly exaggerated. (In the Miller household, by contrast, there are more
shadows.)
Judging by HBO's 1080p, AVC-encoded disc, you'd never realize what a low-budget product
Greek Wedding really was. Black levels are generally solid, fine detail is well-rendered, and
contrast levels are appropriately set. Colors are strong where they should be, without bleeding or
oversaturation. A very fine grain pattern is evident on close inspection, and there is no indication
of filtering or other inappropriate digital tampering, and no artifacts of any kind. Despite the
potential for a "sitcom" look, Jur's careful lighting and HBO's professional preparation of the
Blu-ray has ensured a film-like presentation that lets Greek Wedding play like a movie.
According to IMDb, Greek Wedding was released in Dolby Surround, which would be consistent
with budgetary constraints. Even so, original stems were no doubt preserved, which would be the
basis for the 5.1 mix presented on DVD as Dolby Digital 5.1 and now on Blu-ray as DTS-HD
MA 5.1. Not surprisingly, given the nature of the film, this is a front-centered mix that
emphasizes dialogue. The rear channels provide an expanded sense of presence, but if there were
any genuine surround effects, I missed them. The score is by Chris Wilson (Rita Wilson's
brother) and cellist Alexander Janko, and it adds an additional ring of Greek authenticity.
The DVD released by HBO in 2005 and included with the Blu-ray contained only a commentary.
The Blu-ray adds deleted scenes and a new documentary.
Original 2002 Commentary with Nia Vardalos, John Corbett and Director Joel
Zwick: Not surprisingly, Vardalos dominates the track, explaining just how much of the
film's story was lifted directly from her life (even more than you might think) and
expanding on many of the Greek customs depicted in the film. (The relatives spitting on
her wedding dress as she walked down the aisle? Yes, that happened.) Corbett chimes in
for his key scenes, especially the baptism, and Zwick notes key parallels between the
Portokalos family and a typical Jewish American family—an example of the film's
appeal across a broad demographic.
A Look Back at My Big Fat Greek Wedding (1080i; 1.78:1; 29:05): This entertaining
2012 documentary opens as a solo interview with Vardalos, but she is shortly joined by
Corbett. By far the best parts are the vintage clips of Vardalos performing her one-woman
show and the outtakes from the film's production (more than one gets in many so-called
"blooper" reels).
Deleted Scenes (1080i; 1.78:1; 5:00): The scenes can't be selected separately, but they
are identified by intertitles.
Nothing that Vardalos has done since Greek Wedding, either as writer or lead actress, has been
successful, including a short-lived TV adaptation of the film and the Tom Hanks-directed Larry
Crowne, which Vardalos co-wrote with Hanks, and which bombed despite the combined star
power of Hanks and Julia Roberts. What this shows is not so much that Greek Wedding was a
fluke as that success in filmmaking is a rare and difficult thing, as much dependent on luck as
talent. A unique confluence of script, director, producers and cast combined to create this sleeper
hit, but the release date may also have been critical. In the dark national mood of 2002, a comedy
offering both laughter and the hopeful prospects of romance, family reconciliation and the
American dream was perfectly timed. That the film holds up is a tribute to its craftsmanship and
the durability of its appeal. Highly recommended.
In November, HBO Home Entertainment will bring My Big Fat Greek Wedding to Blu-ray. Director Joel Zwick's hit romantic comedy stars Nia Vardalos (My Life in Ruins) as a Greek woman whose impending marriage to a non-Greek man (Joel Corbett, I Hate Valentine's Day) ...
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