Love's Greek to Me

I accidentally stumbled upon this movie whilst browsing a streaming site. Those following my blog, will know romantic comedies are not my favourite genre - mainly because I find them predictable. Although 'Love's Greek to me' is also every bit predictable, I actually enjoyed it more than I thought I would.

The film revolves around the relationship between Ilana and her Greek boyfriend Mike. When she finally goes to Greece for the first time (for a wedding) she meets Mike's family. Mike also plans to propose to Ilana. Mike's mother Athena is an overbearing character (making for an interesting and funny character in the process). It's all about tradition - GREEK tradition!

I loved the beautiful sights of Greece, making for beautiful cinematography. None of the characters were truly standout characters, but they were a lot of fun. I couldn't help but think the creators were somehow trying to make another 'My Big Fat Greek Wedding' (they even use reference to that film in this film!).

Despite ending up as predictable as I believed it would be, it was still a fun movie. Cheesy, but sweet.

I'll keep it short and sweet.

This is not your usual girl meets boy and the story of how they fall in love movie. This is about what happens after. And I just love that. I personally haven't seen much of that on Hallmark so it was a refreshing change.

It's a movie about love, family, and particularly about learning to trust and to adjust for the sake of the ones you love. For someone around the age of the main cast it deeply resonated with me and taught me so much. The sites were also really beautiful and had me wanting to go to Greece. Sigh...

All in all a lovely summer watch with some nice life lessons. I thoroughly recommend it.

It is always a pity and unfair for a movie to compare it with others. In the case of "Love's Greek to Me" however, it is difficult to avoid any comparison with "My Big Fat Greek Wedding". The premise and consequently the scenario is very simple and around similar ideas: a foreigner joins through romance a Greek family and has to deal with the different culture, traditions, and Greek hyperbole, with the differences in this movie being that this takes place in Greece, the foreign protagonist is a female and the major "problem-creator" is the mother-in-law.

The depiction of Greek habits and behaviours is a little over the top. But personally, even as a Greek, I didn't find it offensive and rather enjoyed this aspect, since even though it was a little excessive, some of these behaviours are to a much lesser extent present in real-life and in fact Greece is heavily rooted in tradition. But contrary to My Big Fat Greek Wedding, the movie appeared less witty and left the characters defined simply as an expression of their caricatures rather than give them some depth. The only character I felt that had a meaningful and healthy arc was Alex (Mike's sister who was getting married).

Without hitting around the bush, let's get to the major flaws of the piece.

First, once again it appears that Greek actors cannot act to the same level as their foreign counterparts. The difference between Torrey DeVitto (Ilana) and even Jo Price (Ilana' mother) who had much less screen time with the rest of the mostly Greek cast was staggering. Especially the performance of Tsimitselis, who is a big name in Greece (we actually feel that he has made a deal and sold his soul to the devil as he appears everywhere), was somewhat blunt and uninspiring and a huge reason why the relationship/chemistry between Mike and Ilana was not believable, despite Torrey DeVitto' great efforts. At least the as always beautiful Santorini and the Greek scenery get a big win for team Greece.

Second, sometimes I felt angry with the screenplay. Obviously, the most interesting character is Ilana which is also played by a much bigger name than the rest of the characters. It is therefore understandable that much of what is happening is centered around Ilana, while the movie is essentially a portrayal from her point of view. But here lies the issue. In their core, the problems faced by our couple are around Illana's fear of commitment and Mike's indecisiveness and poor communication of his life's aspirations and plans (+mommy issues). But throughout the whole movie we see everyone including crucially Mike blaming Ilana like what is happening is primarily her fault, while to the contrary Mike showcased a lot of toxic aspects and manipulative behaviours. Even when Illana raises her concerns, the movie/Mike quickly avoids the tension and then forgets about it. Neither we nor Illana are faced with this admittedly kind of misogynistic reality, and the movie does not provide a resolution to this. Generally, when the recommendation is "Boys don't be like Mike" and "Girls don't put up with so much and accept to be victim blamed as Illana" there is something wrong.

Overall, was it terrible? No? Was it enjoyable? So and so. Would I recommend seeing this? It's less than 90 minutes and if you liked "My Big Fat Greek Wedding" you will get a long distant cousin that can be somewhat enjoyable, you probably won't say that you absolutely wasted an hour and a half, and you support a smaller production effort. Maybe with company, especially if you have a Greek friend (to provide live commentary) this could end up being unexpectedly fun.

Some of the acting here is super-cringey - I'm looking at you, Marina Sirtis - but, setting that aside, Hallmark has done a sensational job of showcasing the beauty of Greek.

This might be their best on-location movie ever, at least as far as the setting goes. You almost forget about the plot - a cliched one, where Sirtis is the comically overbearing mother in law wanting to control every single facet of her son's wedding, bridezilla in this case is mother-in-law-zilla! - because of the scenery.

Plus, Torrey DeVitto is a delight. Not sure she's looked more radiant in a Hallmark movie. The costume department had her looking spectacular in every single scene.

When I saw the previews for "Love's Greek to Me," I was very excited to watch it. I had no idea that Greece was so beautiful! The scenery, the buildings, everything! I was hoping that the movie would be good, too. But it wasn't. The movie had a slow start. I was hoping that it would get better. But it didn't. The actors were not very good or believable, except for the lady who played the lead actor's mother. She was excellent! But she was the only one. This movie is definitely a dud. It's a huge disappointment. But the scenery is definitely not a disappointment. I recommend watching the movie for the scenery, not for the acting or the story.

I gave this movie 5 stars for the scenery alone.