Susan Granger’s review of “My Big Fat Greek Wedding 3” (Focus Features/Universal)
Credit cinematographer Barry Peterson for making “My Big Fat Greek Wedding 3” one of the most enticing Aegean travelogues I’ve seen in years. But – as a feature film – it’s a bit of a disappointing addition to the popular franchise.
Set one year after “My Big Fat Greek Wedding 2” (2016), the familiar, cliché-riddled story finds Toula – now married to Ian Miller (John Corbett) – mourning the death of her father Gus and determined to carry out his final request: giving his photo-filled journal to his childhood friends.
That involves the entire eccentric Portokalos clan flying from Chicago to Athens. then journeying to Gus’s tiny, rural hometown on Corfu, only to discover that few residents remain in that mountainous hamlet, turning the intended ancestral reunion into a logistical challenge as the family, literally, unearths its roots.
(FYI: veteran character actor Michael Constantine, who played Gus, died at age 94 in 2021, a year after Nia Vardalos’ own father passed.)
Light-hearted ethnic humor sustains colorful characters like Toula’ aging mother Maria (Lainie Kazan), her preening brother Nick (Louis Mandylor), and Aunt Voula (Andrea Martin) , who insists “I’m not a gossip. I’m a tattletale.”
Youthful romance surfaces between Toula’s hard-partying daughter Paris (Elena Kampouris) and her college suitor Aristotle (Elias Kacavas). Along with a few Syrian refugees, including lovely Quamar (Stephanie Nur), the quaint village even has a young, non-binary Mayor named Victory (Melina Kotselou).
The original “Big Fat Greek Wedding” (2002) introduced writer/director Nia Vardalos and – costing only $5 million – it quickly became the highest-grossing romantic comedy of all time, garnering an original screenplay Oscar nomination.
This time, Vardalos, who also directs, becomes mired down in myriad storylines and subplots. And those in charge of continuity should have noted that, as an Orthodox Greek Christian – if Gus were cremated (which is rare) – his ashes would need to be buried, not scattered.
On the Granger Gauge of 1 to 10, “My Big Fat Greek Wedding 3” is a bittersweet 6. Wait for this to stream.
