MyBlueCastle If you are looking for a "My Big Fat Greek Wedding" sequel, this isn't it. It is a totally different premise. Even though it's not fair to compare it to "MBFGW" because it is so different, I actually like this movie more. Love the humor of this movie. I have watched it several times for "girls night". The romance storyline is sweet and the Greek history aspect is educational in a fun way. Also a good choice if you like to travel. I've never been a huge fan of Richard Dreyfuss, until this movie. He's sweet and lovable in such a way that now I enjoy him more in other movies too. I also enjoy all the sub characters a lot. The stereotypes of the various countries are amusing. Watching everyone develop and change adds to the overall tone of the movie. A little predictable, but still enjoyable. A group of mismatched folks from around the world coming together and becoming friends and pulling together never gets old, in my book.

Raul Faust You know, "My Life In Ruins" already shows it is bad from the first twenty minutes, in which the main actress is fooled and ignored all the time. I actually felt very sorry for the way writers made the character-- a complete formulaic loser. American movies still insist in showing "loser" people and the winners, as if people weren't both loser and winner, depending on the aspect. Other than that, the movie is pretty cheesy and clichéd; you know, some old people trying to be cool and a weird guy who is surely getting along with the beautiful girl in the end. Poupi and Nico are some of the most annoying characters I've ever seen in movies. Also, it's full of scenes totally implausible, not to mention the completely fake visual of the "beach"-- made in computer, of course. At least, it is not unnecessarily overlong and you have (a few) laughs throughout the trip. A bad movie, in resume.

luannt1211 I watched this film the first time when I was in my classroom. My teacher showed I and my classmates a lot of discs and asked which one we preferred. We were quite selective, I guess, to choose because we didn't know a film before. Luckily, we picked this film and I'm so glad that we did that. Well, how to say... This film which talks about a story of a tour guide named Georgia and her so-called last tour (but actually it turns out to be very different) is solemnly romantic, extremely funny and downright touching with some scenes of kind of "magic" from Greece God and Goddess.Though it doesn't have much meaning like the Oscar films or stuff like that, but this is a really helpful film for those (1) who wanna become tour guide or wanna go on a trip and (2) who wanna laugh.

DICK STEEL I still haven't checked out My Big Fat Greek Wedding in which actress Nia Vardalos is most famous for, but I suppose there's a fan in one of the distributors here to bring in yet another of her film this year after I Hate Valentine's Day. While it's nothing cerebral about the films she starred in (so far that I've watched), one cannot discount the fact that her sunshine demeanour has brought about some positive vibes and feel good factor to her movies, that it's somewhat of a delight to sit through her romantic comedies, thanks to sheer charisma.Written by Mike Reiss and directed by Donald Petrie, My Life in Ruins isn't as dire sounding as its title, touching upon a snapshot of a tour guides stint and rapport developed with a group of tourists under her charge. It's been some five years since I last enrolled myself into a tour group to discover far out places, and the premise of the film brought back some of these memories, good and bad. And in some ways the filmmakers hit the concept right in the head, given how we normally perceive strangers we met for the first time through a pigeonhole concept, classifying them based on prejudices or little nuances that we pick up, and nickname them after.The film in that way, mirrors real life experiences from tours (as far as I'm concerned with my personal participation) and how the tourists slow grow from strangers to friends who have forged strong bonds, some even after the parting of ways. It also plays on the stereotypes of typical tourists from various (Western) countries, such as the clueless American and the friendly Australians, though of course not every caricature gets painted in positive light, in a comical way not meant to offend.Nia Vardalos plays Georgia, an American-Greek expatriate in Greece whose temporary job while waiting for a college teaching appointment, is that of a tour guide in a dingy tour establishment. Being rated consistently as an average performer as compared to her irritating peer, it seems that she's in for yet another tough time with a motley crew of tourists, and paired by with a terribly bearded bus driver Poupi (Alexis Georgoulis). Using her expertise knowledge to good but boring use, she constantly finds it a challenge to connect with her charges, until the joker of the group Irv (Richard Dreyfuss) begins to impart some words of wisdom to help her out. Frankly speaking if I were on a tour, I'd appreciate such a tour guide very much, rather than someone who brings you to various shops all the time for kickbacks in the form of commissions earned when you shop at their preferred outlets. It's a romantic story as Georgia soon finds love in the unlikeliest of persons, and with her new found optimism, begins to address the issues of those in her tour bus as they build on their camaraderie, culminating in the hilarious solving of their bus's air conditioning problem. Expect plenty of light comedy being peppered throughout the film, especially since it plays on the abilities and nature of its characters, such as the kleptomaniac, and the pair of divorced friends. Some jokes aren't politically correct, and look out for Vardalos' real life husband playing a sleazy hotel employee trying to proposition her.Unfortunately most of the backdrops, save for the more famous Greek monuments, were shot in Spain instead of in Greece. It would have been quite the Greece-101 for those who have not visited the country before, but alas this is not the film. But what it is though, is a reminiscing look back into the days when anyone had gone on a tour with a group of strangers, and emerged with new found friends and experiences. Offhand I cannot think of any film that has this as a premise, and for that, I'd say to give this film a chance. After all, it stars the ever-chirpy Nia Vardalos, and it's about time I visit her fat Greek wedding!