My Big Fat Greek Wedding 3 Review: One Big Family Reunion

The underdog success story that has characterized Nia Vardalos' career continues to resonate with audiences two decades later. There's just something so inspiring about a struggling comedian and actress having her personal stories about her life and her family transformed from a nascent one-woman show into one of the highest-grossing independent films of all time. But as beloved as 2002's "My Big Fat Greek Wedding" remains, the comparatively moderate financial gains of its 2016 sequel suggest there might not be legs enough in this franchise to support a third entry. But through coronavirus-related setbacks and budgetary roadblocks, "My Big Fat Greek Wedding 3" has finally arrived. 

This time out, Vardalos is in the director's chair herself, transporting the clan to their homeland of Greece for the first time. The narrative specifics may shift slightly, but the breezy, inoffensive tone has gone unchanged. As with the last two outings, the film feels acutely designed to cater to the least demanding filmgoers, folks who are happy to just see a family interacting in a semi-humorous manner and glad there's not any sex or violence or politics or anything even remotely incendiary to take them out of what otherwise should be a 90-minute diversion from their daily lives.

It may sound like damning the film with faint praise, but at a time when theatrical moviegoing is in a precarious place, maybe it's a net good for a franchise this low-stakes and affirming to exist for the demographics usually ignored by the big blockbusters and the heady prestige dramas. But if you find yourself outside of those narrow parameters, it's hard to imagine wanting to leave the house for a movie this slight and unmemorable.

The time jump between the first two "Greek Wedding" films was a hair longer than the actual passage of time between releases. The first film left the formerly mousy, currently liberated Toula (Nia Vardalos) to start a new life with her decidedly non-Greek new husband Ian (John Corbett), while "My Big Fat Greek Wedding 2" leaped forward to their daughter Paris (Elena Kampouris) rebelling against her family the same way Toula once did, on her way to a new life at college. It's been seven years since they sent her off to school, but in the new film, less than a year has passed. Toula's father, Gus, has passed away, and her mother, Maria (Lainie Kazan), has Alzheimer's disease. Toula wants to visit Greece to see her father's home village and pass along his journal to his three best friends. But once she and Ian and a small sampling of their big fat family arrive for the reunion they were invited to, they discover the village is largely unpopulated and the reunion was a ruse perpetuated by the town's androgynous young mayor, Victory (Melina Kotselou).

Victory is a distant cousin of the Portokalos clan who is convinced that by inviting the bloodlines of the citizens who have long since abandoned the town, they will return, see what a gorgeous place it is, and move back permanently, which would help the town's ailing economy and struggling olive oil production. But the family came to honor their deceased patriarch, and the best friends they came to find are nowhere to be seen. This sets in motion a series of mini-quests and side adventures for the ensemble. These subplots range from Paris having an awkward flirtationship with Aristotle (Elias Kacavas), the nice Greek boy she danced with at prom who has been hired by her aunt to help on the trip; Toula's brother Nick (Louis Mandylor) trying to find the oldest tree in the village that his father used to read under; a secret romance between two of the strangely nondescript townspeople they meet (a Greek boy and a Syrian immigrant); and a mysterious handsome man they all keep running into who may or may not have ties to the family's history.

More often than not, this film's story feels like a bunch of loose ideas scrawled on cocktail napkins cosplaying as a complete vision for a script.

This franchise's light tone has always been a gift and a curse. While its sweet-natured vibe is ideal for viewers who don't like to get too stressed out by their motion pictures, there's always been a startling lack of drama in the proceedings. In the first film, the conflict of Ian not being Greek never once felt intense enough to make anyone worry even for a moment that a happy ending wasn't on the way. In the second outing, the issues between Toula and her daughter felt so boilerplate that it was difficult to even take them seriously. Now here, there is even less to grab hold of. 

Smartly, the stuff that works in this franchise has been streamlined. Gone are the big, wide shots cramming in the extended family, instead focusing on the funniest, most interesting ones. Favorites like cousin Angelo (Joey Fatone) and Andrea Martin's Theia Voula prove central to the plot and get the moments fans of the series desire. But outside of those charming moments (and a few on the other end of the spectrum dealing with the grief of Gus' death and Maria's diminishing faculties), there's just so little "there" there.

Even at a tight 92-minute runtime, scenes run too long and exist like disparate islands unto themselves, populated so heavily by dead air and awkward space that would be great for applause and laughter were anything in this movie hilarious or impressive enough to reward with such reactions. At best, it feels like one of those summer vacation TV movies that shows like "Saved by the Bell" used to air, only this costs more and is being put in multiplexes everywhere instead of dead afternoon space on your local Fox affiliate.

"My Big Fat Greek Wedding 3" is sweet enough to enjoy and harmless enough not to offend, but it's a bit of a tragedy it isn't anything else. A fourth entry feels unlikely — but if this is successful, it'll perhaps be an indicator that audiences are evolving to demand even less from their popular entertainment these days.

This piece was written during the 2023 WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes. Without the labor of the writers and actors currently on strike, the movie being covered here wouldn't exist.