LOVE IS HERE TO STAY… SO IS HER FAMILY.

At thirty, Toula Portokalos (Nia Vardalos) is losing hope that she’ll ever meet a man… but then a school teacher (John Corbett) enters her life; the only problem is that Toula’s Greek family won’t easily accept him.

An enormous hit at the time, this romantic comedy evolved from Vardalos’s one-woman play where she explored what it was like growing up in a very Greek family. Filled with stereotypes (and some Greek-Americans were offended), the film tries to challenge a conservative culture, but can hardly be called daring.

Still, it has a few funny lines, a colorful cast and valid points about the immigrant experience.

2002-U.S. 95 min. Color. Directed by Joel Zwick. Screenplay: Nia Vardalos. Cast: Nia Vardalos (Fotoula ”Toula” Portokalos), John Corbett (Ian Miller), Michael Constantine (Kostas ”Gus” Portokalos), Lainie Kazan, Andrea Martin, Joey Fatone. 

Trivia: Co-produced by Tom Hanks and Rita Wilson. Vardalos’s real-life husband Ian Gomez has a small role; Corbett’s character was based on him. Followed by a TV series, My Big Fat Greek Life (2003), and two sequels, starting with My Big Fat Greek Wedding 2 (2016).

Quote: “Let me tell you something, Toula. The man is the head, but the woman is the neck. And she can turn the head any way she wants.” (Kazan to Vardalos)