My Big Fat Greek Wedding

Trapped in a mundane life and still controlled by her parents, - a domineering mother (Lainie Kazan) and a father who believes every word in the English language has its roots in Greek (Michael Constantine) - thirty year old Toula Portokolos (Nia Vardalos) is looking for a way out. Though her father would like her to settle down, marry a Greek man, and cook for a thousand relatives for the rest of her life, Toula wants something different. After embarking on a computer course at her local community college, Toula swaps the confines of her parents' restaurant, "Dancing Zorba's" for the slightly less confined space of her aunt's travel agency. Whilst working there she sets eyes on Ian Miller, (John Corbett) a high school teacher who, whilst being the perfect match for Toula, isn't exactly the perfect match for her family. For one thing, he's not Greek. For another, he's a vegetarian.

After Toula and Ian announce their plans to wed, much hilarity ensues - most of it inevitably centred on the culture clash between Ian's country club parents and Toula's legions of Greek relatives - and a sympathetic viewer will wonder just how much more Ian can put himself through, especially by the time he's baptised in order to be able to take full part in a Greek Orthodox wedding.

This film isn't anything that you won't have seen before. Families have been embarrassing their cinematic offspring for years. But it's all done with an exceptional amount of charm and humour. It's wonderfully acted all around (even NSync's Joey Fatone comes out of it unscathed) and lead actress Nia Vardalos (who also adapted her one woman stage show to provide the film's screenplay) shows a self-deprecating humour that's missing from the majority of today's young starlets. Certain moments will have you in hysterics and if you're not laughing then your face will at least be fixed in a permanent grin that will still be there a good long while after you've left the cinema.

Laura Watson