My Life in Ruins (D+ or 1.5/4 stars)
A dowdy travel guide rediscovers her Kefi (joie de vivre) on a trip around Greece in 'My Life in Ruins', directed by Donald Petrie, & made from the same team who came up with 2002's surprise mega hit My Big Fat Greek Wedding. The film stars Nia Vardolos (of ...Greek Wedding) as Georgia, an uptight ex-Greek history professor-turned-tourist guide - does that make sense? She is in love with Greece & dreads a return to the states. Discouraged by her past romantic entanglements, & a lack of direction in life (in the U.S.), she elects to have long hours guiding myriads of insufferable tourists & getting paid next to nothing for it. But it's what she wants. Unfortunately for her (and her boss, who I loved), Georgia happens to be the worst tour guide in all of Greece. She wants to give her tourists history lessons of each place they visit; when all they want is souvenirs, ice cream, picture spots, & lounging on a beach. And so, Georgia's ineptness at tour guiding leads to poor evaluations. Georgia's boss would love to get rid of her; thus, offering Nico (another tour guide) a raise if he gets her to quit.
When a Neanderthal-like man named Poupi Kakas (Alexis Georgoulis) replaces the regular driver she has on her tour bus at the last minute, Georgia thinks that things couldn't get much worse. But they do - of course - as she welcomes her usual array of stereotypical misfit tourists: the abrasive Americans, the grumpy Brits, the sweet Canadians, the unintelligible Australians, the quirky old couple, & the "one loud, annoying guy who thinks he's soooo funny", Irv (played by Richard Dreyfuss ... what are you DOING in this movie?). Thankfully, this batch are a more lively bunch than the usual, & in between arguments/spats with her rival tour guide, Nico, she's able to form a genuine connection with some of her tourists (for the first time ever).
So, the main plot of this film involves Georgia's eye-opening change of life. She learns a thing or two from the wisecracking, but earnest Irv (and we learn of his sad past). She humiliates the conniving Nico (with help from her group). She learns how to connect with people. She learns to balance her guiding with both factual trivia about all the important parts of Greece WITH the souvenirs/ice cream/beach stops. And most of all ... she falls in love with her tour bus driver, Poupi. Her ragtag group (and Poupi) expands their horizons to an exotic land where life's surprises are around every corner. And she's able to get back her "Kefi". Blah.
I'm someone who loves My Big Fat Greek Wedding. It's as accessible as it is quirky. It's loveable. The humor is off-beat, but hysterical. And the performances are great. But this film is about half as good, even a little less. 'My Life in Ruins' is as generic as they come; a romantic comedy that has little-to-no romance or comedy in it (it's disheartening to recount how many of these I've seen this year already). There's absolutely no cleverness in/about the movie, at all. Everything just kind of washes over us. Every member of Georgia's group are ill-mannered, & culturally stupid. The story is trite. The humor is non-existent (making fun of cultures & nationalities ... really?). The love story is cliched. And Vardalos & Georgoulis have minimal chemistry. On the performance front, Vardalos has 1 or 2 funny lines, but she's just regurgitating her role from Greek Wedding, & I expect a lot more from her. I think she has the talent/chops to be truly funny - even sexy - and she's not utilizing her strengths; just burying them in this perpetually dowdy persona. Very frustrating.
And Richard Dreyfuss doesn't fair much better. His character arc is neglected & dumped into a weird, sappy ending (for him). My final complaint is with the scenery. For a film about touring through Greece, you'd think the camerawork would highlight "why" Greece is such a sought after place to visit. Greece is obviously gorgeous. But the visuals here are dull. The only thing I really got a kick out of in 'My Life in Ruins' was Vardalos commenting on the various maddening travel 'ticks' that tourists have, and then seeing them come true as they entered her bus. But overall, this is the type of film that lowbrow 75 yr. olds might enjoy; as well as 5 yr. olds who've never seen a movie before. 'My Life in Ruins' is not 'offensive', but a diversion that's just too pleasant, too predictable & too bland for me.
When a Neanderthal-like man named Poupi Kakas (Alexis Georgoulis) replaces the regular driver she has on her tour bus at the last minute, Georgia thinks that things couldn't get much worse. But they do - of course - as she welcomes her usual array of stereotypical misfit tourists: the abrasive Americans, the grumpy Brits, the sweet Canadians, the unintelligible Australians, the quirky old couple, & the "one loud, annoying guy who thinks he's soooo funny", Irv (played by Richard Dreyfuss ... what are you DOING in this movie?). Thankfully, this batch are a more lively bunch than the usual, & in between arguments/spats with her rival tour guide, Nico, she's able to form a genuine connection with some of her tourists (for the first time ever).
So, the main plot of this film involves Georgia's eye-opening change of life. She learns a thing or two from the wisecracking, but earnest Irv (and we learn of his sad past). She humiliates the conniving Nico (with help from her group). She learns how to connect with people. She learns to balance her guiding with both factual trivia about all the important parts of Greece WITH the souvenirs/ice cream/beach stops. And most of all ... she falls in love with her tour bus driver, Poupi. Her ragtag group (and Poupi) expands their horizons to an exotic land where life's surprises are around every corner. And she's able to get back her "Kefi". Blah.
I'm someone who loves My Big Fat Greek Wedding. It's as accessible as it is quirky. It's loveable. The humor is off-beat, but hysterical. And the performances are great. But this film is about half as good, even a little less. 'My Life in Ruins' is as generic as they come; a romantic comedy that has little-to-no romance or comedy in it (it's disheartening to recount how many of these I've seen this year already). There's absolutely no cleverness in/about the movie, at all. Everything just kind of washes over us. Every member of Georgia's group are ill-mannered, & culturally stupid. The story is trite. The humor is non-existent (making fun of cultures & nationalities ... really?). The love story is cliched. And Vardalos & Georgoulis have minimal chemistry. On the performance front, Vardalos has 1 or 2 funny lines, but she's just regurgitating her role from Greek Wedding, & I expect a lot more from her. I think she has the talent/chops to be truly funny - even sexy - and she's not utilizing her strengths; just burying them in this perpetually dowdy persona. Very frustrating.
And Richard Dreyfuss doesn't fair much better. His character arc is neglected & dumped into a weird, sappy ending (for him). My final complaint is with the scenery. For a film about touring through Greece, you'd think the camerawork would highlight "why" Greece is such a sought after place to visit. Greece is obviously gorgeous. But the visuals here are dull. The only thing I really got a kick out of in 'My Life in Ruins' was Vardalos commenting on the various maddening travel 'ticks' that tourists have, and then seeing them come true as they entered her bus. But overall, this is the type of film that lowbrow 75 yr. olds might enjoy; as well as 5 yr. olds who've never seen a movie before. 'My Life in Ruins' is not 'offensive', but a diversion that's just too pleasant, too predictable & too bland for me.