I've wondered for a while why Nia Vardalos couldn't find any career traction after My Big Fat Greek Wedding became such an astonishing hit. I didn't see her ill-fated Some Like it Hot knockoff Connie and Carla, but I was still going on figuring she had something more to offer to the world than jokes about a Greek dad constantly using Windex.
But looking at the trailer for her new movie My Life in Ruins, posted at Moviefone, I may be prepared to admit I was wrong. The fact that much of the supporting cast appears to be old people is a hint-- this movie is the gentlest, most chuckle-inducing kind of comedy you'll find. Vardalos plays a woman whose life back home has fallen apart somehow, and takes a job as a tour bus guide in Greece to put herself back together. Then she finds love! And learns to let go! And probably 1,000 other cliches they didn't have time to cram into the short trailer.
Vardalos clearly still has the undeniable charm that makes me stop to watch My Big Fat Greek Wedding every time it comes on TBS, but this trailer shows such a lack of originality that it's almost heartbreaking. Is it possible she just had one good idea back in 2002, and has been running on fumes ever since? Check out the trailer below and decide for yourselves.
