Could “Greek Wedding” send a signal to film-makers about public preferences?

It is terribly interesting that more often than not movies that are reasonably clean and decent fare better at the box offices than the violent and sleazy productions.

Critic Leonard Maltin recently produced a number of figures showing that this is the case, then asked: “When are movie-makers going to take notice of this and respond to what the public obviously wants and will support?”

An obvious example is the current film “My Big Fat Greek Wedding.” It was made for something like $5 million and at last reports was well en route to a $100 million gross. Originally released on a limited basis, its showings have spread to more general audience venues. As this has happened, the box office receipts have continued to grow. They could continue to soar as coverage and word of mouth relates to the public how enjoyable an experience it all is.

This warm, decent and ultra-profitable film resulted after actor Tom Hanks and his wife saw a show featuring a female stand-up comedian who talked about her eccentric Greek family and some of the bizarre things that have happened.

One analyst said that by most standards it is not a very good film. Kenneth Turan of the Los Angeles Times described the film as “an undemanding, middle-of-the-road fairy tale about a feisty Greek woman who marries outside her wacky sitcom culture.”

But Turan adds: “what ‘My Big Fat Greek Wedding’ has in great abundance is the same thing that differentiates ‘Spider-Man’ from films like ‘XXX’ and ‘Goldmember’; a warmth, a belief in emotion, a connection, albeit artificial, with the stuff of life. This makes this film stand out from its bland, cookie-cutter rivals the way Tula the Greek heroine stands out from the look-alike WASPs of her future husband’s regular dating pool. the huge success of both films inevitably points up how starved today’s audiences are for anything that has true emotional content. There is such a desperate need for that kind of connection that people ignore flaws, put up with contrivances, embrace half-loaves as if they were beautiful and whole. If films like these ever actually delivered on all they promise, who knows how successful they might be?”

Some would consider that faint praise, indeed, for this low-budget box office surprise. Yet it points up how badly the public wants to see something different on the big screens less trash, sex, murder, mayhem and contrived, artificial special effects.

Consider this: “Greek Wedding” doesn’t have a single bona fide villain in the cast. There are no superhuman performers, just average, ordinary people of good will trying to get along, nurture each other and even enjoy themselves.

Maybe that sort of corny philosophy won’t make much of an impact on the minds of film producers, but that $95 million-plus profit certainly might. Is there a market here for more such material?