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The Vow

A saccharine and paint-by-numbers slice of romance, which is largely boosted by the appeal of its two leads.

Star Wars: Episode 1 - The Phantom Menace (3D)

The under-utilised 3D adds little to this prequel, which only serves as a sore reminder of the brilliance of the original films.

Any Questions For Ben?

The talented bunch of actors ably cut through the surface gloss, but it’s tough to remain invested in the plight of the self-absorbed lead.

Shame

It starts off as brutal but arresting stuff, and the two lead performances are scorching, but disappointingly dissolves into a case of tragedy for the sake of tragedy.

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My Life In Ruins (Film)

by Liz Graham | July 14, 2009 16:10 | Edited July 14, 2009 16:13

Tired and predictable, Nia Vardalos is simply trying to cash in on the reputation that made her famous.

Trying to recreate the success of My Big Fat Greek Wedding, the 2002 film that made $350 million and actress Nia Vardalos famous, My Life in Ruins takes the old film's key components - single, unhappy Greek woman who works in the travel industry - and spins a different story out of it. The result is tired and cliche-ridden, saved only by the authentic scenery, with the movie allowed unprecedented access to sites in Greece such as The Acropolis.

 

Nia Vardalos plays Georgia, an uptight Greek-American working in Athens as a tour guide. She's really a history professor, and hates chaperoning tourists who'd rather be buying souvenirs than listening to her. The film follows Georgia as she leads a motley crew of international tourists around Greece and rediscovers her mojo (or "kefi", as the Greeks call it) along the way. Helping her is Irv (Richard Dreyfuss), an irreverent but kind American passenger, and bus driver Poupi (Alexis Georgoulis).

 

When director Donald Petrie makes use of Vardalos' physical comedy skills (like when Georgia tries to give her ancient history talks sex appeal), it's genuinely funny. For the most part though, Georgia is just whiny and ungrateful, while Georgoulis struggles so hard to maintain dignity in a ridiculous hairy wig that Poupi is relieved of a character altogether.

If anything's going to keep Australians away though, it's the cringe-worthy stereotypes of our countrymen, with two Australian tourists talking incoherently in rhyming slang as they guzzle Fosters. Australians don't much like seeing themselves being depicted as dumb, language-mauling oafs by Hollywood. Meanwhile, the English are derided as uptight and humourless, and the Spanish are painted as lusty airheads. Each country parodies itself far better on celluloid than Hollywood could ever hope to...