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.
Nia Vardalos has cracked the formula. No not for a good movie. She’s got the airline industry formula. Everyone on lengthy flights that need something mildly watchable while they drift in and out of sleep: that’s her lane. I mean, if you’re going on vacay, probably with your family, wouldn’t you want to watch the Portokalos family make fools of themselves in Greece? It’ll leave no lasting impression, and get you to your final destination without traumatizing you with some hard hitting complex storytelling. Just sit back, relax, and enjoy your flight!
At least Toula (Nia Vardalos) has a nice recap for the audience before the movie starts about the big fat Greek history. Back to the present, where Toula wants to fulfill her recently passed father’s last wishes: to return his journal to his old friends from his boyhood home on the Greek Islands. She rallies her husband Ian (John Corbett) and her NYU student daughter Paris (Elena Kampouris) on the trip. But naturally, the rest of the family that’s able has to come too, including Toula’s brother Nick (Louis Mandylor) and Aunt Voula (Andrea Martin). They all arrive in time for a Portokalos family reunion by the town’s mayor Victory (Melina Kotselou), hopeful that Toula’s father’s old friends will arrive in a few days.
My Big Fat Greek Wedding 3 is best to watch on mute. Athens and Corfu look as pretty as ever, and it’s best to just soak them in without the “jokes” and “character development” getting in the way. You can turn the sound back on if Andrea Martin is on the screen, as Voula remains as potent a comedic presence as ever. But everyone else is going for totally broad comedy that rarely works. So while they fluster through forced dialogue, just enjoy the markets, the seascapes, the adorable piazzas, and think about the trip you’re in the air on your way towards.
But if you must listen to what these people have to say, the dramatic parts are the parts that work more than I was expecting them to. That’s because Vardalos is tapping into more relatable stuff like aging parents and immigrant families. Louis Mandylor sneaky wins this part of the movie: usually the butt of a joke has a big beating Greek heart full on display in this one. It makes me think this Greek Wedding might have been better if it played more melodramatically instead of comedically, to really go out on a satisfying note when the Portokalos kids get their parents the happy ending they wanted for them. But your flight is about to land, so best forget about it.
Put your trays in their upright and locked positions, and fasten your seatbelts for landing. My Big Fat Greek Wedding 3 got you to your final destination, so forget about it and make your own fun memories and dreams and jokes come true. Your bags will be at baggage claim III.