Buy it... if you want a souvenir from the film that includes all the important score material and Greek songs that you will remember from its major scenes.

Avoid it... if authentic Greek folk music sends you running in terror, or if 20 minutes of conservatively anonymous, romantic underscore isn't worth the purchase.

My Big Fat Greek Wedding: (Chris Wilson/Alexander Janko) The 2002 smash hit that took everyone by surprise, this film outpaced many of the year's blockbusters and returned the kind of overwhelming profits that raised the hopes of all distributors of arthouse films looking for mainstream success. Affable actress and comedian Nia Vardalos first performed the idea of My Big Fat Greek Wedding in her stand-up solo comedy routine before the producing husband and wife team of Tom Hanks and Rita Wilson propelled the concept onto the big screen. For anyone who has not had the privilege to know or live with a true Greek, then My Big Fat Greek Wedding is a must-see experience for purely educational reasons. While the film makes light comedy out of the differing cultures of Greek Americans and "Xenos" (non-Greeks), it also presents a balanced and frighteningly accurate portrayal of Greek eccentricities. A thirty-something Greek spinster (Vardalos) falls in love with and becomes engaged to a Xeno (John Corbett) and thus, from the Xeno's point of view, a "wedding from hell" kind of scenario is put into motion. The music for the film proved to be a popular hit with audiences as well, combining a predictably soft and romantic orchestral underscore with several Greek songs of much flashier character that were licensed for use in the film. Some of those Greek songs are traditional, while others are of a more modern Greek heritage, though most of the relatively minor differences between them will likely go unnoticed by American ears. In the film, the songs alone offer some of the comedy of the story, often presenting a saturating Greek atmosphere at times when it is comically convenient. While some might consider this use belittling to the traditional Greek songs, nobody can argue that it isn't an ineffective approach for the situation. Whether American ears can withstand the powerful Greek character on album is an entirely separate issue. The album for My Big Fat Greek Wedding was considered a commercial success, partly because it is true to the music heard in the film and partly because audiences simply hadn't encountered this kind of Greek soundtrack compilation in recent times.

	Only $9.99

The soundtrack product offers an almost even split between songs and score, with each receiving about 20 minutes of playing time. The songs explain themselves; all of the pertinent ones from the film are offered, including those that accompany the restaurant scene at the beginning, Toula's transformation, the party backgrounds, and the two songs for the wedding at the end. The highlight of the songs is arguably the hysterical, wordless Baydur/Thomas creation "Istanbul Coffee House," which offers Greek folk music at its most comical level to Xeno audiences during the front yard, lamb-roasting party scene. For the Xeno listener, the traditional and original songs will likely meld together seamlessly, leaving much of the original score as the only differing element. The smooth transfers between the songs and the more source-like original score material is aided by the fact that nearly all of the songs contain no vocal performances. The My Big Fat Greek Wedding score by Chris Wilson and Alexander Janko is a surprisingly enjoyable romance effort that allows the songs to handle the duty of conveying all of the comedy. Led by a nearly continuous piano theme, the score elegantly offers acoustic guitar and string section accompaniment to the flirting and dating scenes involving Corbett's character in the film. All of the vital score cues, from the hip rhythms of the flirtation at the travel agency to the light background piano solos for the first date, are presented on the latter half of the album. It's a pleasant and harmonious score that rarely mingles with the Greek material (except for the silly "Moose Caca" cue). In fact, the smooth flow that exists in the score, extending to light rock tones in "Toula and Ian" (which faintly resembles some of Basil Poledouris' light romance material from late in his career, especially with the addition of slight electronic choral accompaniment), is almost a detriment because of the music's rather faceless constructs. It is anonymous material in terms of melody, but it suffices in producing the appropriate atmosphere, which is really all that was required. If the overall album has a fault, it is this disparity between the two sounds: the Greek songs and the modern, romantic underscore. And yet, that's the essence of the film itself, and the album still manages to hold itself together well enough throughout its length. Ultimately, it's a pleasant souvenir from an equally lighthearted film. ****   Amazon.com Price Hunt: CD or Download