My Big Fat Greek Wedding 3

 My Big Fat Greek Wedding 3
Starring Nia Vardalos, John Corbett, Louis Mandylor, Elena Kampouris
Directed by Nia Vardalos

In 2002, "My Big Fat Greek Wedding" became one of the most financially successful movies of all time, earning over $360 million dollars worldwide on a budget of $5 million. It was a once-in-a-cinematic-career lifetime, but writer Nia Vardalos has tried to ride that wave ever since. First there was the series "My Big Fat Greek Life" which didn't even last a season, and then "My Big Fat Greek Wedding 2" in 2016, which still made over $90 million worldwide which is nothing to sneeze at, but nowhere near the phenomena that the original had. Now the family is back for the (hopefully) final outing, and along with the law of diminishing returns, the story itself is diminished so much it was more a labor to trudge through it instead of a labor of love.

After the death of the patriarch of the Portokalos family, Toula (Nia Vardalos) gathers them together to go to Greece for her father's final wish - to find three of his friends from the old country and give them the journal he kept while in America. The family embarks on their journey and come across different problems, twists, and joys that show that nothing is stronger than the family bond.


The Good:
The film has a good message to it, and that's the love of family. There's no quarrels among the clan, no real tension created even though other films would've highlighted such issues, and everyone genuinely enjoys each others' company and quirks. No one faults Theia's gossip, nor really fret over Paris failing out of college, or the fact that Toula's bother Nick smuggled over their father's ashes to spread at the homeland. Everything is crisp, drama-free, and lighthearted - which is something most movies are missing nowadays.

You sense the heart that the film tries to convey even though the script isn't very good. The film was set to honor the late Michael Constantine who died in 2021, and to that end they did an admirable job.

The film is only 90 minutes long, and in a day and age where, again, films seem to have to last at least two hours, it was a relief that it came and went rather quickly.



The Bad:
I have no idea what Nia Vardalos was thinking when she wrote the screenplay. The film has enough stories to fill five sequels, and here none of them are done well. The overarching story is her search to find her father's friends but gives up halfway through, only, of course (no spoiler, since a movie like this wouldn't end on a sad note) for them to be found through happenstance. Then there's Nick's plan to spread their father's ashes on the oldest tree in the village with some seeds so a new tree could grow. And Toula and Ian's daughter Paris not just dealing with flunking college but being on the trip with Aristotle, a boy that she dated once in college and ghosted because she was focused on other things. Then there's a whole story about a hidden family member that would've shook a Telenovela series to its core, but here it was met with cheers rather than gasps. THEN there's also a story of two new characters who have fallen in love despite one being Greek and the other Saudi, which also ends amicably. THEN THEN there's the town issue where most everyone left because the springs dried up, which was resolved with something that was so simple it was surprising no one did it before. There's more stories as well but I honestly forgot about them already, and I just watched this movie less than an hour ago.

While it's nice that a film like this doesn't have any conflict, the issue is that it doesn't have any conflict. Problems get resolved easily. People don't have to give up anything important, learn any lessons, or have any heart-to-heart conversations. All problems are polished nicely with Windex and everyone goes about their merry way.

The editing of the film is choppy at best and nerve-wracking at worst, as scenes go from one moment to another, focusing on one set of characters and then another set with no rhyme or reason, and there's a few moments where characters are talking, give an answer, and there's like ten seconds of silence for no reason. Very choppy, very weird, and very distracting.

For a comedy, there was little to no laughter to be had. A few chuckles, but that's about it.


The Summary:
Much like a wedding reception that's gone too long, "My Big Fat Greek Wedding 3" proves that sometimes what works best works that way because it was original, and anything that comes after it diminishes it greatly.


The Score: D