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    My Life in Ruins

    Reviewed by
    adamwatchesmovies@

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    “My Life in Ruins" is a romantic comedy that works better as an advertisement for traveling to Greece than as a source of laughs or romance. Nia Vardalos plays Georgia, a down-on-her-luck history professor who now gives tours of classic Greek architecture to tourists. She’s not particularly good at her job and this latest group is the final straw. She’s made up her mind to quit after this tour is done. But wouldn't you know it? This rag-tag group of misfits slowly starts to chip away at her defences. She even finds herself falling for the tour’s bus driver (played by Alexis Georgoulis.)

    Whether or not you dug “My Big Fat Greek Wedding”, it was undeniable that the film had genuine heart and a story with humor that while far-fetched, was still grounded in reality. This picture's like that film's deformed clone, a pale facsimile that tries to emulate its charm and fails completely. The plot of the film has Georgia giving a tour to this group of ridiculous tourists. The old couple, the dumb Americans, the teenager out to lose his virginity, the grouchy daughter stuck with her bickering parents, the foreigners who don’t speak a word of English, the business guy who’s obsessed with his job, the foxy divorcees more interested in finding a new man than actually doing anything touristy... You get the idea. They were on their way to a stereotype convention and took a wrong turn. Only Richard Dreyfuss' character, Irv has anything going for him.

    The key word here is lazy. The screenwriter made no effort whatsoever to create characters that would be anything besides punch lines and realizing this, decided to add in a line of dialogue that goes something like “look at all these goofy stereotypical tourists! ” Let me tell you something: pointing out that something is stupid doesn’t make it any less stupid, it just shows that you’re smarter than the stuff you’ve written and put in no effort to change the mistake.

    With those creatively bankrupt additions, the film depends on its main characters: Georgia, her love interest (which I will get to in a moment) and Irv. I’ll give “My Life in Ruins” this, Georgia and Irv actually do seem like real people and they have a character arc during the film and ambitions that stretch past what you see immediately. The two don’t get along at first but eventually bond and become good friends. It ain’t much, but it’s all the movie’s got going for it. Take those and the gorgeous shots of Athens, the Pantheon, and other Greek locations. Out of the film and you're left with a film as cheerful, as heartwarming as a suicide note.

    Watching the film, I was so taken aback by how juvenile and obvious the humour was that for a while, I thought it was playing a joke on the audience. We’ve already got the lame jokes brought to us by the tourists. That's nothing next to the love interest. The reason I’ve been avoiding saying his name is because when he first revealed what it was, I thought it was a joke. His name is Poupi Kakas. That is a joke meant for children aged what... 6? I thought what was going to happen was that he would reveal later that his name was like Greg or something and that he had only pretended his named was a toilet joke so the tourists would smile. I was wrong. Not only is his real name Poupi Kakas, but his nephew also has a name that’s just as bad: Doudi Kakas. I could just end the review right there.

    The romance in "My Life in Ruins" is pathetic. We’re supposed to believe that stud-muffin Poupie has been growing an ugly beard for months, only to shave it off out of the blue in order to get Georgia’s attention. Really? He saw something in the depressed, unenthusiastic co-worker that sucks at her job, but not in the dozens of women he encounters regularly at work or at random woman on his way to work? What about this sub-plot where Georgia thinks the person that’s been leaving her flowers is the workaholic house of pancakes guy, instead of the bus driver. Is this woman stupid? She’s a college professor, so I assume not, but everyone else on the bus is able to figure out what is going on, why not her?

    I'm livid just thinking about this sorry excuse for entertainment. It’s a lazily written, poorly conceived comedy that offers nothing aside from some nice cinematography here and there. If you’re watching this film because you’re a fan of the main actress, this'll make you hate her. It’s a waste of your time. (On DVD, January 1, 2014)

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    adamwatchesmovies@  11.11.2016 age: 26-35 2,867 reviews

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