Although it has its amusing moments, in eneral the plot does not convince.

It's the kind of movie you'll want to see a second time with someone who hasn't seen it yet, to remember what it was like to watch it for the first time.

There are moments in this movie where the great movie it could've been peek out... They're fleeting, here, but they're worth savoring, and they happen often enough to make it worth your while.

A terrific literary drama and character piece that shows how the process of creating art can be seen differently by those doing it and those looking at it from the outside.

*** Barely a spoiler as the comment in the review is contained in the summary ***The 'idea' is great (although derivative) but the 'story' is terrible.The writer/director (alas, writer/director usually waves a Big Red Flag - when will producers realise that it's not always a good thing to let writers direct their own material?) desperately needs some tuition in story structure and there is absolutely no pace. The editor also needs to take some responsibility.Overall, the acting isn't bad but ultimately, for the most part, flat (especially, sorry, the lead who is more wooden than a plank on a Tudor ship) but the pace (or lack thereof) kills any possible development of interest and entertainment.The female romantic lead actually calls him 'interesting' but, really, he's as interesting and dynamic as one of the dead fish he sells in his brother's fish & chip shop! Jeez! The film has none of the wit, chat, energy or passion you'd expect in a story about Greek life.It's a shame because this movie definitely has possibilities but it falls at almost every story/film/structure hurdle it comes to.

I get the story. I get the message—I'm a movie message geek, if there ever was such a thing. But, there was no middle to this story. I really don't get how everything just evolved into the ending, in a sense? We never truly saw him all that happy until after his brother died. We never truly saw the love story develop between him and that girl, by the way, until the very end. We never saw him bond with his kids all that much, other than with his oldest son. . .though I wouldn't call that bonding completely. It was all just random; the ending came at such a random resolution. They spent so much time building up the story, creating the characters, and adding to the cinematography that we never truly see the exposition—the build up. When his brother died, I couldn't even force myself to feel sad or even sympathetic, to be honest. It was so random: one moment, his brother is in a mid-coma, and the next his brother dies? Huh? He literally tells him that "you have to let me go" and yet, what was there to let go off? Most of the movie, he was just there, he was just moping about and completely shoving at his brother. I never truly saw a moment where they hung out without that tension, where they laughed and had fun. I suppose the middle was supposed to be the pictures, which is completely lazy. I can't believe that movie was that. I was bored out of my mind in the beginning and then in the end, I was just disappointed. I felt a slight rise of happiness when I saw him dancing in the end, but then it ended of course.And don't get me wrong, I am all for sensitive, deep, and long, slow movies, but this went from beginning to end. There was no build up at all. I love—and I mean it—love family movies; family movies are all I live for in my cinema life, to be honest. But, this, this was just "family is broken" then suddenly, haphazardly "family is fixed." There was no slow progression into the ending, where we could see all of our favorite moments and list them one by one. It just began and ended.I can't force myself into liking a movie like that. No, it wasn't bad, but it wasn't great either. It was barely okay—it was just here. No offense to all who felt deeply moved by it. I barely felt my heart move a bit in this movie. Anyway, oh well. It was at least a good try and a great opportunity for another ethnicity to get a movie that seemed true to their culture and their roots. At least, there were a few parts that made me smile—the dancing in the end, the daughter's silly love story, and that one scene of bonding between the dad and the oldest son. I can at least give the movie that.

I have just had the misfortune to watch this, how it got green lit I have no idea, it is stilted beyond belief and ham acted over an awful or even woeful script. I would not say a bad word about the actors as it has to be the editor, director and writers fault... But mainly the Producers for green lighting.The only saving grace was some good music and some well shot scenes. But that's it... At 109 minutes, you feel every single one of them. It's pacing is unbelievably slow and laboured. Once again back to the above - with pauses longer than a Chekov play and as a consequence render the opportunity for comedy impossible.

This is a really sweet-hearted film where Stephen Dillane delivers a touching performance of a man who loses everything and has to learn to find happiness in what he has left.It is a gentle Greek-rooted comedy that you don't have to be Greek to enjoy, but will almost make you want to be! We saw it in a packed house cinema and there was a round of applause at the end, while everyone walked out smiling and talking about what they had just seen. It is funny without being over the top, sad without being melodramatic, and the family dynamic of the actors is one of the most believable ensembles I've ever seen.The classification of 15 is absolutely bizarre - there are 3 uses of coarse language. Absolutely no violence, nudity, or graphic extreme depictions of any kind. So a 12A film can show people all of that, yet this gentle, touching story with none of those things and instead has three f-bombs is given a higher rating - I have no idea how to explain this.