Connie & Carla

Synopsis

Connie & Carla (Nia Vardalos and Tony Colette) are small-time dinner theater entertainers when they witness a murder. They run away to California and get a job in a drag queen bar. So they have to hide the fact that they're actually women dressing as men who dress as women.

Subplot: Dave Duchovny plays the brother of one of the gay performers who wants to reconcile with his brother. Along the way, he's attracted to Nia but is all confused cuz she's a man, except she's not.

What I Thought

As you can read from the synopsis, this is a comedy and not a deep movie. Nia and Tony are funny, though we don't have that same spark that Nia had in Greek Wedding. In that movie you see Nia's growth and change, which is part of what makes that movie so magical. Here, the movie is more slapstick, preferring their over-the-top performances on select showtunes to actual character development.

But that's OK, not a deep movie. It does lend itself to some very silly moments, such as when they're singing Don't Cry For Me Argentina from Evita, and the whole bar stands up in the Evita "hands up" pose to sing too. Hilarious!

There are also a few very touching moments with Duchovny & his brother, giving the movie a bit of an emotional anchor. But don't get me wrong, not a deep movie.

In short, quite funny, would be much funnier if you see it with a full audience. Would also make an OK rental if you miss it.

All photos and text copyright Ryszard Kilarski, unless otherwise noted. Clip art, drawings, paintings are either free domain or copyrighted by the artists.