My Life in Ruins
By Marshall Fine
Who's in it: Nia Vardalos, Richard Dreyfuss
What it's about: An American tour guide (Vardalos) in Athens is fed up with her life - until she falls for her hot bus driver.
Comedy ruins: Vardalos struck gold as a travel agent in "My Big Fat Greek Wedding" - but she falls flat as a tour guide in this unfunny comedy. The endless string of weak tourist jokes is a laundry list of cliches: stupid Americans, stiff Brits, slow-moving seniors. Pick an offensive stereotype and you'll find someone trying to poke fun at it. This movie is so boring that you'll want to distract yourself by counting how few times you see Vardalos (and her prominent nose) in profile. There is eye-candy for females: hunky Greek star Alexis Georgoulis, who plays the bus driver. It's not nearly enough.
Long story short: Comedy is a foreign language to this film.
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