Nia Vardalos makes awkwardness funny without asking us to pity the woman struggling through it. We like her warmth and stubbornness, though her writing can give her too little to explore once the romance gets going.
Fi1m perspective
In My Big Fat Greek Wedding (2002), Nia Vardalos makes Toula Portokalos's attempts to look at ease seem like hard work. We laughed at the effort, because she makes the embarrassment recognisable without asking us to feel sorry for her. There is enough stubbornness in Toula to stop the awkwardness becoming her entire personality. Vardalos is good company in a romance that asks too little of her.
Writing has been central to the parts available to her. Unable to find leading roles, she wrote and performed My Big Fat Greek Wedding as a one-woman show in 1997, then wrote and starred in the film. Connie and Carla (2004) gave her another self-written lead, while I Hate Valentine's Day (2009) added directing to her duties. That authorship matters when we judge the acting, since she often sets the limits of what a role will ask of her.
John Corbett gives her an agreeable partner in My Big Fat Greek Wedding, and their chemistry helps where the attraction is thinly written. They make liking each other look plausible, which is useful work in a romantic comedy. The relatives get most of the laughs, but Vardalos gives us a reason to care about the couple. We would have welcomed more scenes that let either actor reveal something unexpected.
The difficulty is that her screenplay keeps avoiding the harder conversations it introduces. The strain of belonging to a close-knit family is there, but familiar types take over before much can be examined. Her acting gives Toula embarrassment and determination at once, so it is frustrating when the screenplay settles for an easier joke. We can enjoy spending time with this couple without learning much about them.
Returning as writer and star for My Big Fat Greek Wedding 2 (2016), then taking on directing as well for My Big Fat Greek Wedding 3 (2023), has kept that family central to her screen work. We would be interested to see her comic persistence tested by a role less concerned with keeping the company comfortable. The first film is worth an evening for her company, with modest expectations of the romance.
Biography
Nia Vardalos is a Canadian actress and screenwriter. She was born Antonia Eugenia Vardalos on 24 September 1962 in Winnipeg, Manitoba. She trained with the Second City comedy troupe in Chicago and attended Toronto Metropolitan University.
Vardalos wrote and starred as Fotoula 'Toula' Portokalos in the 2002 romantic comedy My Big Fat Greek Wedding. The film received an Academy Award nomination for Best Original Screenplay and a Golden Globe nomination for Best Actress in a Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy. She also wrote and appeared in the sequels My Big Fat Greek Wedding 2 (2016) and My Big Fat Greek Wedding 3 (2023), which she directed.
