One thing I love about Hollywood is the “sleeper hit,” which is released without much fanfare or marketing and relies on word-of-mouth to achieve success. It may be hard to believe, but some of the films in this category are The Shawshank Redemption, Rocky, Dirty Dancing, and one of my personal favorites in My Big Fat Greek Wedding. In three of these four examples, a sequel was done which was sub-par (although the Rocky films took longer to get there), and I do put My Big Fat Greek Wedding 2 into that category. The third film is now here, and I am hoping this will more resemble the enjoyment of a grand wedding or something that should have eloped.
Nia Vardalos (who has written all three films but directs for the first time) is once again joined by John Corbett, Louis Mandylor, Lainie Kazan, Andrea Martin, Gia Carides and Joey Fatone as the Portokalos family who are still living in Chicago and running their family restaurant. Her father has passed away and as they deal with their loss, they head to Greece to reconnect with the village their parents grew up in at a reunion where they also look to fulfill a promise to deliver Gus’s diary to his childhood best friends. Upon their arrival, they realize performing the task is harder than it seems while they all deal with their own issues of family and loss.
The majority of this film was (rightfully) filmed in Greece and was so well done that it made me feel like I wanted to put that area of the world on my bucket list to visit someday. The cast is enjoyable and had no real complaints is on par with the past two films that is paced well at just over ninety minutes.
The thing about the original film is that it had a good mix of comedy along with emotion without any form of agenda, which gave it that special magic while the second film went overboard in that same formula. With My Big Fat Greek Wedding 3, I found that mix to kind of combine both films. With Vardalos directing this time, it film seemed more relaxed, and it paid off with solid comedic moments alongside heartfelt moments that dealt with relationships on a number of levels. While it did not capture that special feeling I had for the first film, it does make a good attempt to get there. For fans of the Portokalos family, this is an enjoyable way to spend some time that I will recommend as a Saturday afternoon showing in a theater.