Anna Campbell

January 2022

My Life in Ruins!

A couple of months ago, I did a piece for my website on Leap Year, one of my favorite movies and a film that unfortunately isn’t a critical favorite. You can read that column here: https://annacampbell.com/my-favorite-things/2021-2/august-2021/

Today, I want to talk about another film that received a critical drubbing but which has never failed to enchant me. Leap Year only manages a measly 6.5 out of 10 on IMDB. Today’s selection is even less popular, coming in at 5.9.

My Life in Ruins came out in 2009 and didn’t make much of a splash. I’m not sure why I picked it up – it certainly wasn’t because I’d heard good things about it and I didn’t go to see it at the movies so I think I must have caught it on TV. Since then, I’ve probably seen it about a dozen times and the charm has never failed.

I watched it again last night so I could garner some fresh impressions for writing this piece, and I still laughed and cried and emerged from the experience happier than when I went in. What else do you want from a film?

If we’re talking genre, it probably qualifies as a romantic comedy. There’s certainly romance and comedy. But this story has more to do with the emotional journey of the principal character, Greek-American Georgia (Nia Vardalos), who comes to Greece to work at the university as a classics lecturer but loses that job because of cutbacks.

When the movie starts, Georgia is working as a very unhappy tour guide for Pangloss Tours. That’s a nice touch – Dr. Pangloss is the incurably optimistic tutor who plays such a critical part in Candide by Voltaire. This film IS incurably optimistic and romantic – and all the better for it!

Pangloss Tours is a shoddy operation and the owner Maria (Bernice Stegers) takes merciless advantage of Georgia, giving her all the difficult groups and the bus that has no air conditioning, while she favors slimy rival tour guide Nico (Alistair McGowan in a fun, moustache-twirling villain performance). Georgia loves ancient history and wants to share that passion with her clients, but they’re only interested in shopping and drinking and ice-cream and going to the beach. So she has a pretty superior attitude to her group from the start.

But this is the tour that against all expectations will restore Georgia’s faith in humanity and herself. From unpromising beginnings, not least with hirsute driver Poupi (Alexis Georgoulis), who is variously described as Sasquatch and the bear that learned to drive, she discovers the secret to happiness. By the end of the movie, she’s ready to take life head on and make it what she wants.

Much is made through the movie of the fact that the Greek word for having a spring in your step is kefi – Georgia is told over and over that she’s lost hers. But by the end, she’s got kefi to burn! She’s found a purpose in life, she’s learned to appreciate the good things around her, and even better, the hairy Poupi has cleaned up to be a real-life romantic hero. Lovely!

I’m not saying this film is Shakespeare, and it certainly relies on a lot of national stereotypes for humor. But on the other hand, it IS funny, even with the cliches, and Richard Dreyfus gives a really touching performance as Irv, the older, wiser man who can see how Georgia is going wrong and helps her to take the right turn. I said I cried in this film – there are some very moving moments featuring Irv and his grief over losing his beloved wife of 28 years. And of course, there’s also a plus in the fact that the tour group travels through some spectacular scenery. It’s lovely to see all the ruins of the title!

When I was a kid, I used to love the movies they showed on Saturday and Sunday afternoons. Usually old romcoms or swashbucklers, always something that left you with a smile on your face. My Life in Ruins falls perfectly into that Saturday afternoon matinee mold. Don’t come at it expecting too much, and I’m sure it will restore your kefi too!