My Big Fat Greek Wedding 3

I loved the first Greek Wedding movie. It was charming and poignant and had universal. "annoying family" appeal. The second movie was not nearly as good, though it was interesting to see what happened and it was nice to revisit the charming characters. That latter attribute is the only good part on the third installment.

Seeing the characters is pleasant. The story is contrived and much of the dialogue is silly. The conflicts all seem forced and fake. Some of the gags are humorous. Andrea Martin is still great. Many of the shots are poorly conceived. The beauty of the Greek isles is nice to see. But it feels a little like BFGW1 crossed with her Greek tour leader comedy "My Life in Ruins", but both of those movies are better.

I like Nia Vardolos.. I just didn't like this. Movie much.

With their mother suffering from dementia, a family are faced with a bit of impending mortality and decide it's time to head back to their ancestral Greek homeland for a family reunion. "Toula" (the film's auteur Nia Vardalos) and her American husband "Ian" (John Corbett) head off with her body-grooming obsessed brother "Nick" (Louis Mandylor), a pair of sagely aunts and the lovestruck - though they don't yet know it - "Paris" (Elena Kampouris) and "Aristotle" (Elias Kacavas). Upon arrival they meet the local mayor "Victory" (Melina Kotselou). Now she's an enthusiastic young woman whom, it turns out, has maybe been talking up this gathering. Indeed, the visitors might well be the only people who are coming! Their welcome locally is a bit hit and miss thanks to the imperious, curmudgeonly, and rather ubiquitous old "Alexandra" (the scene-stealing Anthi Andreopoulou) but gets slightly more friendly when they all discover just how closely related they all are, and after the hunt starts for some old friends of their father who left the island many years ago... What now ensues is the gentlest of family comedies that raises the very occasional smile; plays a lot to stereotype and generally presents us with a beautifully shot, entirely predictable, soap opera. Kampouris and Kacavas provide the eye candy, and the aunties dispense some words of wisdom now and again allowing Lainia Kazan ("Maria") to remind me a lot of Joan Rivers. Otherwise, though, this is entirely forgettable summer fayre that smacks a little of "Mamma Mia" (2008) only without the toe-tappers. It's watchable but very unremarkable.

The movie has heart. The movie shows love that a family should have for one another. But boy this film is uneven. The story thread is a flimsy tapestry with a series of light hearted moments and gags. I just returned from a vacation to Greece. My heart was in this film. I loved the last two movies but the third film needed more time in the writer's room to ensure a nice, steady flow of jokes and heartfelt moments and solid dialogue. The performances were meh. Loved the addition of more Greek music to set the mood of Greek living. It was a nice love letter to the actor who played the father's passing but we need more than schmaltz to keep a movie on point.

I enjoyed the first two movies in this trilogy(?) very much, but My Big Fat Greek Wedding 3 really fell flat. It seemed like a series of meaningless little events padding a rather weak premise of Toula following her father's dying wish to bring his journal to his childhood buddies in Greece. Of course, locating his dispersed chums is difficult and creates the central theme of the story. Thrown in are some poorly developed new characters including a dopey "mayor", a menacing old woman and a previously unknown relative. Also, a contrived romance between a Greek boy and a Syrian girl is shoehorned in to supply the prerequisite "Greek Wedding". There are very few laughs and a fair amount of implausability in this messy Greek salad. If you're a fan of the previous two movies, I'd advise you to wait till it comes out on video and save yourself some money.

One of the worst supposed comedies I've had to endure in quite a while. The humor was non existent to begin with. How could the people responsible for this train wreck not look to the successful formula utilized in the first 2 in the franchise? The script, editing , storyline and acting were deplorable. The only element worth stomaching was the cinematography which was amateur, at best. I really wanted this movie to work. I was amazed at how poorly thought out this movie was plotted. The budget was sizable enough as was the cast size welcoming back virtually everyone from the last 2 movies. Real shame.