None of their eccentricities compares to the hilarious quirks of the immediate family members. They’re adamant in their unwavering opinions until, mere minutes later, they’re conveniently not - with nary a hint of internal struggle. In terms of the newer cast, Alexandra and Peter’s motivations for change are murky at best. What should have been an inspirational capper on a trilogy ends with a shrug of resignation. Worse, it’s disheartening to see Toula’s ever-evolving journey towards self-empowerment sidelined in favor of far less interesting characters. Paris’ primary problem isn’t so much harboring a secret about college, but rather fretting over dating Aunt Voula’s adorable assistant Aristotle (Elias Kacavas). As is, it’s a disjointed mashup of half-baked storylines that splinter the cast until the very end when yet another wedding necessitates their group participation. Given how comfortable the original ensemble is returning to the characters Vardalos lovingly crafted all those years ago, a hangout movie might have been a better model for this sloppily structured one - giving them room for some poignant meta-context, mourning both their fellow actor and the character he played. Hijinks ensue, involving the town’s resident sour-faced grump Alexandra (Anthi Andreopoulou) and mustachioed mystery man Peter (Alexis Georgoulis). Since the matriarch of the family can’t travel, half of the extended family stays behind to care for her as the others - including Toula, Ian, Paris, Toula’s brother Nick (Louis Mandylor), Aunt Frieda (Maria Vacratsis) and Aunt Voula (Andrea Martin, who remains this franchise’s MVP) –-hop on the overseas flight to discovery. A perfect opportunity arises when they receive an invitation for his seaside village’s reunion, put on by its indomitable young mayor Victory (Melina Kotselou). Still, Toula has one last thing she’s been tasked to do: travel to her father’s rural hometown in Greece, find his three best friends and deliver to them his well-worn journal chronicling his American adventures. If he did, these movies would be in a very different place from the one we find them in - maybe a more profound one. It’s cute that, after all these years, he still doesn’t fully grasp the chokehold his wife’s family has on her. Toula’s sweet, golden retriever-esque hubby Ian (John Corbett) has recently retired and thinks it’s time to finally take a vacation, just the two of them. It doesn’t help matters that her easily embarrassed daughter Paris (Elena Kampouris) is away at college in another state, causing her to incessantly worry, and her aged mother Maria (Lainie Kazan) is ailing with Alzheimer’s, though she remains lucid enough to crack wise about her memory issues. As she states in her voiceover (but is never actually shown to be the case), her smothering, tight-knit family has fractured a bit since the death of her father Gus (Michael Constantine, who passed away in 2021). Toula (Vardalos) is caught at another crossroads in her life. And, for a franchise whose long running gag involves proving all words are derived from the Greek language, it’s more than ironic that this chapter is lacking in humanistic drama - an art we can credit to the Greeks. To an alarming degree, writer-director Nia Vardalos undervalues the worth of her own creation, recoiling from much of the story’s earned emotional pull or any sense of genuine interpersonal strife that doesn’t take more than a scene to resolve. Revolving around our beloved, put-upon protagonist returning to her deceased father’s homeland to perform one final favor, this threequel is surprisingly lifeless and almost laugh-less. Twenty-one years after audiences initially said “I do,” “ My Big Fat Greek Wedding 3” compels us to start divorce proceedings.
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