Romantic movies have been around for as long as any one can remember, we watch as two people find each other and fall in love, we see men and women who as soon as they find each other we know right away they will be together, we also see men and women who run into each other and are the last to know they belong together, such is the case in "My Life In Ruins" Don't be mislead by the title, this movie is set in the beautiful ruins of Greece, when a tour guide, Georgia (Nia Vardalos) is once again given the job to drive around a group of tourist she realizes she hates her job, her boss and her co-worker, who gets the better bus, the better people and is always first at the best attractions.
When Georgia is given her itinerary she knows just what to expect, she gets the same thing over and over again, the tourist who thinks his jokes are the funniest ever, Irv (Richard Dreyfuss) the married couple Big Al (Harland Williams) and Kim (Rachel Dratch), the business man Marc (Brian Palermo) the college kid Gator (Jareb Dauplaise) the snobby couple, Dr. Tullen (Caroline Goodall) her husband Mr. Tullen (Ian Ogilvy) and daughter Caitlin (Sophie Stuckey) and the two divorcees, Lala (María Botto ) and Lena (María Adánez).
The bus they are given is a broken down piece of junk, one accident away from the scrap heap, the driver is a hairy man, Poupi (Alexis Georgoulis) that Georgia believes can't speak English. Why Greeks are supposed to speak English while they are on the Greek Islands is never explained. Of course the day Georgia is tired and upset and just ranting about how much her life sucks and how long it's been since she was with a man, Poupi reveals that he not only understands English but can speak it as well.
Of course Irv breaks up the boredom on the trip, he brings everyone out of their shells, he points out that Georgia is only as unhappy as she makes herself, he becomes one of her biggest supporters after a misunderstanding between the two. Irv is a widower on the trip that he was supposed to take with his wife, she passed away before they could take the trip together, so he is taking it alone for her. The funniest tourist is the little old lady who hands out trinkets to everyone on the bus, she becomes the grandmother of the entire group, her husband Barnaby (Ralph Nossek) is also along for the trip, but he is feeble and weak, Irv blesses him one day and he is such a believer that he puts down his cane and walks without it. When Georgia finds out just how the woman is obtaining the relics she does nothing to stop her, later she does tell her that she must stop shoplifting, but yet uses her ability to get things when she has her pick the pocket of the other tourist guide. They use the key to get on the nicer bus and take its air conditioner, Of course the tourist fall in love with Georgia, and she with them, the trip lightens up and the group starts to have fun, when Irv collapses and is rushed to the hospital the group decide that a trip to the hospital should be on the itinerary. Also Georgia plans a trip to the beach, just for Caitlin, this brings her out of her shell, it doesn't hurt that Poupi has a teen age nephew that he invites to join them at the beach.
It's no surprise that Georgia and Poupi find love among the ruins, it doesn't happen in the blink of an eye, Poupi leaves flowers for Georgia on the bus, she thinks they are from Marc, who is a business man on a business vacation he is looking for spots to open a new IHOP, he pays little mind to anything except pancakes. Georgia finds out that the flowers are from Poupi and one day when Irv tells Georgia the group is bored that she should tell stories about sex when she describes the ruins, when she does this, it so startles Poupi he drives the bus off the road.
I give My Life In Ruins a 3 and on my avoidance scale a 0, go see this film you wont be sorry. The humor is what makes this movie work, we find ourselves along for the tour, we learn as much about the ruins as the group does, we find ourselves becoming a part of the group as well.
My Life In Ruins is rated PG for Sexual Content
Running time is 1 hr. 38 mins.
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