IN A NUTSHELL:
In the newest addition to the My Big Fat Greek Wedding franchise, the kooky family travels to Greece for a long-awaited family reunion. Nia Vardalos stars in this with her break-out role AND directs the whole party.
The story is supposed to take place one year after the events of My Big Fat Greek Wedding 2.
THINGS I LIKED:
Fans of the franchise will get a kick out of seeing their favorite Greek family again.
We get to see a lot of Greece! I finally got to travel there a few years ago. I absolutely LOVED the food. Greek food is so much better when you're actually in Greece! We hit all of the big tourist spots all over the country. We even took a quick flight so we could visit Santorini. So great! I always love traveling in movies too, because it gives me ideas for my Travel Bucket List. One of the characters is Syrian, so we get to learn a little bit about Syrian dance moves.
There's an important conversation in the movie about how people work all of their lives, saving their money, hoping they'll have their health to travel once they retire. I know a lot of people who have that philosophy but my husband I don't. We recognize that tomorrow isn't promised, so we are committed to traveling as much as we can now while we work.
We get to see all of our fan favorites, as well as meet a few new ones. The cast includes Nia Vardalos (who is perfect in the role of Fotoula "Toula" Portokalos), John Corbett (still as handsome as ever), Andrea Martin (always hilarious), Lainie Kazan, Louis Mandylor, Elena Kampouris, Gia Carides, and even Joey Fatone!
Missing from the cast are Michael Constantine, Bruce Gray, and Constantine Vardalos. Sadly, they all passed away since the last movie. This film is dedicated to them.
One scene I remember from the very first film in the franchise is when all of the women pulled back each other's necks when taking a photo. I've done that with my friends and sisters on occasion for laughs. In this movie, a new character in Greece teaches the Americans another tip for the perfect photo. Ha ha
Speaking of the perfect shot, Barry Peterson has the lucky job as a cinematographer in the film. It's hard to take a bad shot when you're in beautiful Greece!
Both Tom Hanks, Gary Goetzman, and Rita Wilson worked as producers with Nia Vardalos serving as the Executive Producer AND director.
Stephanie Economou offers some original music, which is fun.
There is a very real element in the story of the matriarch in the family who now has dementia. My mother recently passed away. She struggled with Alzheimer's for many years, so the scenes in the movie that showed Maria Portokalos always made me sad.
There are some touching moments when childhood friends are reunited.
There are some cute moments and running gags.
THINGS I DIDN'T LIKE:
It's not nearly as funny as we all wished it were.
The story doesn't flow well.
It sure is convenient that everyone in Greece can speak English with the characters in the story!
There is a romance in the story but the couple is already together and complete strangers to the family. They finally admit they want to get married. That's it. That's not how I would describe a rom-com.
TIPS FOR PARENTS:
Kids will probably be bored. Sadly, so will some adults.
Some Greek is spoken with and without subtitles.
Lots of alcohol. Some people get drunk.
We see full-frontal nudity of a man, except he holds a soda bottle in front of his junk so we, thankfully, don't have to see that.
A man shaves a lot of body parts in front of everyone.
