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Movie Review: 'My Life In Ruins'
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Photo: Fox Searchlight Pictures
Nia Vardalos returns to the big screen in this feel-good romantic comedy from Director Donald Petrie.
Mostly known for her role in the smash hit 'My Big Fat Greek Wedding' and her brief stint on the quickly canceled sitcom 'My Big Fat Greek Life', Vardalos brings a fresh feel to the standard rom-com cliches and has more charm than you can shake a stick at.
Vardalos stars as Georgia, a woman fascinated by Greece and all it offers, but lost when it comes to her future and what she really wants in life. After trying with no success to get a job as a teacher, she becomes a tour guide and sees this as her chance to discuss the Greek ruins at length and hope the tourists find it half as interesting as she does.
Underpaid, under appreciated by her co-workers, and miserable with life in general, Georgia always gets stuck with the same type of tourists on her bus: the fighting married couple, the bitter divorcees, the cocky businessmen with their cell phone always intact, and even the elderly couples and several non-English speaking travelers. Most of these tourists would rather shop (or shoplift as one woman does) than listen to Georgia's history lessons about Greece.
During this four day trip, amidst the broken air conditioning on the bus, ridicule from her tourists, and the dreary, dark slum of a hotel they all stay in, Georgia learns a lot about herself as do many of her customers. Richard Dreyfuss is fantastic as Irv, a very wise man who recently lost his wife. He talks of their shaky marriage but still insists how magical his life was with her. As time goes on, many begin to consider Irv magical himself. He encourages Georgia to open her heart to more possibilities, including the bus driver Poupy (Alexis Georgoulis), who is obviously interested. We can't forget to mention the sneaky slime ball fellow tour guide (Alistair McGowan) who tries to sabotage Georgia's trip.
Of course, the film is not without cliche as mentioned above. Parts of the film will manipulatively pull at your heart strings and everyone knows just where it will end up. But this is okay. This movie is downright funny thanks to Vardalos and her bus full of wacky tourists. Not to mention, her sarcastic humor, beauty and charm carry her far. She could talk Greek history all day long. We would still be listening.
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