Nia Vardalos is as charming and watchable as ever but this is cliche ridden fluff.
My Life in Ruins (2009)
Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted:110
Fresh:11
Rotten:99
Average Rating:3.6/10
Consensus: With stereotypical characters and a shopworn plot, My Life in Ruins is a charmless romantic comedy.
Theatrical Release:Jun 5, 2009 Wide
Box Office: $8,474,608
Synopsis: From Nia Vardalos, writer and star of My Big Fat Greek Wedding, comes the uplifting comedy My Life in Ruins. Georgia (Nia Vardalos) has lost her kefi (Greek for “mojo”). Discouraged by her lack... From Nia Vardalos, writer and star of My Big Fat Greek Wedding, comes the uplifting comedy My Life in Ruins. Georgia (Nia Vardalos) has lost her kefi (Greek for “mojo”). Discouraged by her lack of direction in life, she works as a travel guide, leading a rag-tag group of tourists as she tries to show them the beauty of her native Greece while waiting to land her dream job. Opening their eyes to an exotic foreign land, she too begins to see things in new ways—finding her kefi and possibly love in the process. --© Fox Searchlight [More]
Starring: Nia Vardalos, Richard Dreyfuss, Maria Adanez, Sheila Bernette
Starring: Nia Vardalos, Richard Dreyfuss, Maria Adanez, Sheila Bernette, Maria Botto, Rachel Dratch, Alexis Georgoulis, Ralph Nossek, Bernice Stegers, Harland Williams, Ian Gomez
Director: Donald Petrie
Director: Donald Petrie
Screenwriter: Mike Reiss
Producer: Michelle Chyzdik Smith, Nathalie Marciano
Composer: David Newman
Studio: Fox Searchlight Pictures
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Reviews for My Life in Ruins
Hollywood doesn’t know what to do with difference, any more than it does with ruins. It’s about time Vardalos, or someone, gave the suits a guided tour.
As the end of the road finally draws near, you'll need to pull over and throw up.
The film and all its characters are as tacky and charmless at the end as they are on first impressions.
While Vardalos does her big fat best to keep it fresh, the duff characters and uninspired direction make Greece look as appealing as a week-old kebab.
Vardalos’ peppy charm and the postcard scenery make for pleasant diversions, but there’s no getting away from the script’s mawkishness.
It's a bit like ouzo: seems like fun at the time but you'll no doubt regret it in the morning.
It's like Mamma Mia! without the songs, wit and charm, or Shirley Valentine after a full frontal lobotomy.
Turgid, sappy and utterly failing to utilise a cast including Richard Dreyfuss, it's bad enough to make you smash plates over your own head.
The film is sweet and has a jolly holiday feel but is sadly let down by Nia's unfunny acting.
Think of Shirley Valentine and take away charm, wit, realism and Pauline Collins.
This laboured romantic comedy has little to recommend it beyond the picture-postcard locations.
What a comforting fable to warm us as the evenings draw in. Away with cynicism! Enjoy if you can. The cast look as if they did.
This mess - henceforth to be known as My Big Fat Greek Tragedy - is the most embarrassing thing to come out of the Eastern Med since Prince Philip.
Vardalos' charming and likeable presence ensures that this is just about watchable, but it's painfully unfunny and the script is full of horrible cliches and lazy stereotypes.
While there are some witty observations along the way, this tourism rom-com is so resolutely unromantic and unfunny that it feels like a package holiday during which you have to share a hotel room with the group clown.
Vardalos doesn't help her case by making her big screen comeback in something so sitcom-level.
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