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My Life in Ruins

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My Life in Ruins (2009)

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Reviews Counted:25

Fresh:2

Rotten:23

Average Rating:3.8/10

Consensus: With stereotypical characters and a shopworn plot, My Life in Ruins is a charmless romantic comedy.

Australian Rating: PG [See Full Rating] Mild sexual references and coarse language

Runtime: 1 hr 35 mins

Genre: Comedies

Australian Theatrical Release:
Jul 16, 2009 Wide

US Box Office: $8,474,608

Synopsis: From Nia Vardalos, writer and star of My Big Fat Greek Wedding, comes the uplifting comedy My Life in Ruins. Georgia (Nia Vardalos) has lost her kefi (Greek for “mojo”). Discouraged by her lack... From Nia Vardalos, writer and star of My Big Fat Greek Wedding, comes the uplifting comedy My Life in Ruins. Georgia (Nia Vardalos) has lost her kefi (Greek for “mojo”). Discouraged by her lack of direction in life, she works as a travel guide, leading a rag-tag group of tourists as she tries to show them the beauty of her native Greece while waiting to land her dream job. Opening their eyes to an exotic foreign land, she too begins to see things in new ways—finding her kefi and possibly love in the process. --© Fox Searchlight [More]

Starring: Nia Vardalos, Richard Dreyfuss, Maria Adanez, Sheila Bernette

Starring: Nia Vardalos, Richard Dreyfuss, Maria Adanez, Sheila Bernette, Maria Botto, Rachel Dratch, Alexis Georgoulis, Ralph Nossek, Bernice Stegers, Harland Williams, Ian Gomez

Director: Donald Petrie

Director: Donald Petrie
Screenwriter: Mike Reiss
Producer: Michelle Chyzdik Smith, Nathalie Marciano
Composer: David Newman
Studio: Fox Searchlight Pictures

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Reviews for My Life in Ruins

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1 - 16 (sorted by date; Australian critics are listed first)
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Petrie, who handled slapstick with ease in Miss Congeniality, has lost his timing with this one. There's none of the blithely nonsensical spirit that infuses the atmosphere when actors are enjoying themselves.

Full Review Source: Sydney Morning Herald | comment Comment
07/24/09
Sandra Hall
Sandra Hall
Sydney Morning Herald
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Tired and cliche-ridden, saved only by the authentic scenery, with the movie allowed unprecedented access to sites in Greece such as The Acropolis.

Full Review Source: FILMINK (Australia) | comment Comment
07/17/09
Liz Graham
Liz Graham
FILMINK (Australia)
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The film contains a constant stream of lowbrow gags and pratfalls as Georgia lurches her way towards happiness, romance and a secure job in the Grecian tourist trade. It's lightweight, inoffensive fluff.

Full Review Source: The Age (Australia) | comment Comment
07/17/09
Jim Schembri
Jim Schembri
The Age (Australia)
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The main attraction of the film is visiting some of the great sites of Greece.

Full Review Source: At the Movies (Australia) | comment Comment
07/16/09
Margaret Pomeranz
Margaret Pomeranz
At the Movies (Australia)
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The film feels slighter than its hugely successful predecessor.

Full Review Source: Daily Telegraph (Australia) | comment Comment
07/16/09
Vicky Roach
Vicky Roach
Daily Telegraph (Australia)
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My Big Fat Greek Disaster as the familiar sights of mainstream romcoms are presented in a terrible, uninspired tour.

Full Review Source: Empire Magazine Australasia | comment Comment
07/12/09
Hilton Thomas
Hilton Thomas
Empire Magazine Australasia
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We almost get to care about Georgia's fate, if it weren't for the fact that none of the film rings true and real

Full Review Source: Urban Cinefile | comment Comment
07/10/09
Andrew L. Urban
Andrew L. Urban
Urban Cinefile
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There's no denying Nia Vardalos' appeal as the stitched up Greek tour guide lacking in people skills who discovers there is romance in more than classical history, but it is all too simplistic and contrived

Full Review Source: Urban Cinefile | comment Comment
07/10/09
Louise Keller
Louise Keller
Urban Cinefile
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Nia Vardalos is as charming and watchable as ever but this is cliche ridden fluff.

Full Review Source: Empire Magazine | comment Comment
10/04/09
Liz Beardsworth
Liz Beardsworth
Empire Magazine
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Feels like its been churned out by some auto-plot generator.

Full Review Source: Guardian [UK] | comment Comment
10/04/09
Andrew Pulver
Andrew Pulver
Guardian [UK]
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Defiantly square and focus-group engineered to appeal to those harboring a soft spot for "My Big Fat Greek Wedding," the Nia Vardalos vehicle My Life in Ruins doesn't do Greece or its star many favors.

Full Review Source: Los Angeles Times | comment Comment
06/05/09
Glenn Whipp
Glenn Whipp
Los Angeles Times
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My Life in Ruins plays out more like a thuddingly bad, been-there, seen-that sitcom. Even the sight of breathtaking ancient monuments don't keep it from crumbling.

Full Review Source: USA Today | comment Comment
06/05/09
Claudia Puig
Claudia Puig
USA Today
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In fashioning a comeback for Vardalos, writer Mike Reiss has cribbed much from her Greek Wedding playbook.

Full Review Source: Washington Post | comment Comment
06/05/09
Jan Stuart
Jan Stuart
Washington Post
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With stale 1970s-style sitcom humor, My Life in Ruins has none of the homey authenticity of My Big Fat Greek Wedding.

Full Review Source: New York Times | comment Comment
06/05/09
Stephen Holden
Stephen Holden
New York Times
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Rarely has a film centered on a character so superficial and unconvincing, played with such unrelenting sameness. I didn't hate it so much as feel sorry for it.

Full Review Source: Chicago Sun-Times | comment Comment
06/04/09
Roger Ebert
Roger Ebert
Chicago Sun-Times
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It's not that this premise is so altogether improbable -- what tourist hasn't bonded with strangers while sharing close quarters in a foreign land? -- but that it feels tired from the start.

Full Review Source: Variety | comment 1 Comment
05/05/09
Lael Loewenstein
Lael Loewenstein
Variety
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1 - 16 (sorted by date; Australian critics are listed first)
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