Right from the start, just by the film's title, we know which way this story will lead us. The question in our minds then becomes: How in the WORLD will this ever work?

Toula Portokalos (Nia Vardalos) is part of a large Greek family based in Chicago. Her parents own a restaurant called Dancing Zorba's, and her aunt runs the Mount Olympus Travel Agency. At 30 years old, Toula still lives with her parents and works as the seating hostess at the restaurant. But she longs for something more. Change doesn't seem possible, given the cultural insistence of her domineering father (Michael Constantine). But thanks to a few manipulative interventions by her mother (Lainie Kazan) and her Aunt Voula (Andrea Martin), Toula makes some progress in carving her own path.

And then she meets and falls in love with English teacher Ian Miller (John Corbett). Can two people have more opposite backgrounds? You almost have to feel sorry for Ian and his parents, Rodney (Bruce Gray) and Harriet (Fiona Reid), as they get caught up in the loud dynamics of the Portokalos clan. The loudest ones are Aunt Voula and her annoying daughter, Nikki (Gia Carides). Opa!

It's fun to watch Toula and Ian figure out how to handle the situation. And it is sheer joy to watch Michael Constantine at work, since we've seen him in a variety of other roles over the years, in both TV series and in movies. Here as "Gus" Portokalos, he has two passions and beliefs: that a squirt of Windex can cure, clean or solve anything; and that every word in the English language can be traced back to its Greek roots. His belief in the importance of his own family is also unshakeable and cannot be contested.

The story may be set in Chicago, but the scenes were recorded mostly in Toronto. So if you're familiar with Chicago neighborhoods, you may not recognize a whole lot of them here, except metaphorically or at a distance.

Anyone who has a large family of any ethnicity will be able to relate to Toula's situation in My Big Fat Greek Wedding. Anyone who doesn't, will probably laugh at the absurdity of it all. This romantic comedy can provide an amusing diversion for anyone trying to forget any matters of immediate importance.

Here's a warning, though: Be prepared for loud people. And a lot of them. Followed by a sequel, My Big Fat Wedding 2.