What Has Happened to Nia Vardalos Since Her Great Performance in "My Big Fat Greek Wedding"?

My Life in Ruins - 2 Stars (Average)

I keep hoping I will see the Nia Vardalos I love in another movie like "My Big Fat Greek Wedding", one of my Top 20 all-time favorite films -- she was a nobody who became somebody, similar to the character of Eliza Doolittle in "My Fair Lady".

Since her breakout performance as Toula Portokalos in My Big Fat Greek Wedding, I have suffered through "Connie and Carla", "I Hate Valentine's Day" and now "My Life in Ruins". Thankfully, Vardalos did not direct My Life in Ruins; it helped somewhat, but not enough to make this film take off.

At this point, I have really - and I mean really - begun to appreciate Joel Zwick, the director of My Big Fat Greek Wedding, and the cast that surrounded Vardalos - Michael Constantine (Toula's father), Lainie Kazan (Toula's mother), Louis Mandylor (Toula's brother), John Corbett (Ian Millier, Toula's love interest), Andrea Martin (Toula's Aunt Voula), Gerry Mendicino (Toula's Uncle Taki), Fiona Reid (Ian's mother) and Bruce Gray (Ian's father).

Zwick directed 21 pilots that became regular television series, including "Laverne & Shirley", "Mork & Mindy", "Happy Days" and "Family Matters" to name a few. And, yes, he is that good.

Georgia (Nia Vardalos) is a Greek American tour guide in My Life in Ruins who is leading a tour around Greece with an assorted group of misfit tourists who would rather buy a T-shirt than learn about history and culture.

Everything seems to go wrong until an older traveler, Irv Gordon (Richard Dreyfuss), shows her how to have fun, and to take a good look at the last person she would ever expect to find love with: her Greek bus driver (Alexis Georgoulis). There are a couple of funny moments in this film, but it really drags on. Richard Dreyfuss is the highlight of the film.

Legendary film critic Robert Ebert minced no words in his review of this film, saying that "rarely has a film centered on a character so superficial and unconvincing, [and] played with such unrelenting sameness. I didn't hate it so much as feel sorry for it.

"The central question posed by My Life in Ruins is, what happened to the Nia Vardalos who wrote and starred in My Big Fat Greek Wedding? She was lovable, earthy, sassy, plumper, more of a mess, and the movie grossed more than $300 million.

"Here she's thinner, blonder, better dressed, looks younger and knows it. She's like the winner of a beauty makeover at a Hollywood studio. She has that don't touch my makeup! Look.

"Now she is rich, famous and perhaps taking herself seriously after being worked over for one too many magazine covers . . . There is, in short, nothing I liked about My Life in Ruins except some of the ruins."

Amen, Roger.

So, after her last three offerings, does Nia Vardalos seem one dimensional as an actress, or does she just need a good director and very strong supporting cast around her? You decide.

One thing we know for sure - great actors find great roles and make great films more than once in their career.

The budget for My Life in Ruins was $17 million and it generated $20 million in gross revenue - this is not how you get rich backing a film.


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