My Big Fat Greek Wedding 3 is a 2023 American romantic comedy film written and directed by Nia Vardalos. The third installment in the My Big Fat Greek Wedding franchise, the film stars Vardalos, John Corbett, Louis Mandylor, Elena Kampouris, Gia Carides, Joey Fatone, Lainie Kazan, and Andrea Martin. It is the first entry not to star Michael Constantine, who died in 2021. Filming took place in Athens, Greece, from June 22 to August 10, 2022.

It’s been 14 years since the last My Big Fat Greek Wedding movie, and now the Portokalos family is back for another round of laughs and heartwarming moments. The film was released in the United States on September 8, 2023, by Focus Features.

The 2002 original “My Big Fat Greek Wedding” is one of the most financially successful films of all time, grossing over $360 million worldwide on a production budget of $5 million based on the cost of making it. Of course, there will be sequels; The only mystery is why there were never five or ten instead of two. Movies tend to be formulaic, but it’s a charming formula, like a family recipe for a comforting meal that won’t win you any Michelin stars, but is satisfying because it reminds you that you’re loved and taken care of.

Although detractors complained that the original was a TV sitcom in cinematic drag, the concept worked better as a series of self-contained films than a TV show: while the spin-off sitcom “My Big Fat Greek Life” Lasted completely less. run. During the season, “My Big Fat Greek Wedding 2” became a hit, earning almost five times its production budget 14 years after its original release. “My Big Fat Greek Wedding 3” will likely be a hit because writer/actress Nia Vardalos, aka Toula Portokalos, created the recipe and is now running the kitchen (her second directorial effort after 2009’s “I Hate Valentine’s Day”).  She knows what the customer wants.

The biggest obstacle to creating another chapter in this family saga was the absence of Michael Constantine, who died at the age of 94 after two performances as Gus, the grumpy, impulsive, but big-hearted patriarch of the Portogallos family. Varthalos follows the path of many smart franchise filmmakers, who must deal with the death of a primary cast member and reckon with the immutable facts of life. Gus longed for a long family gathering in a small village in Greece, the ancestral home of the Portokalos clan, to reunite with living relatives from days gone by, but it would not be long until his dream came true. did not survive The ideal Greek vacation and extended business vacation for the expat family is as follows.

The trick with “marriage” movies is how they introduce a lot of “conflicts” that aren’t conflicts, and then resolve them without the characters sacrificing anything. All major and minor characters are essentially decent (though sometimes rude or insensitive in a mildly humorous manner), and belong to the same loyal family by blood, marriage, or deep friendship. They talk about the problems they are stuck in, but you don’t see them working hard to solve them or losing anything that can’t be recovered.

Often, the situation is resolved by another character taking care of it without any apparent effort. A final example can be found in the second film: Gus must remarry his wife Maria (Lainie Kazan) after he discovers that the priest who performed their wedding did not sign their marriage certificate. ; Maria will not agree to a second ceremony until Gus makes a formal proposal; which he denies; There is little controversy over this impasse; Gus later ends up in the hospital and Maria refuses to meet him because she is not legally his wife and he relents and gives her what she wants because the word “marriage” is in the title of the film.

“My Big Fat Greek Wedding 3” is full of variations. The town settles down when the family arrives and we learn that the springs flowing through the town have been closed. At the end of the film, they come back into action after a montage that lasts a minute and looks so simple that you wonder why the townspeople didn’t do it already. Libra’s brother Nick (Louis Mandler, whose natural spirit is completely consumed by bitterness) is obsessed with finding the tree under which his father used to sit. He wanders all night in the forest next to the village, but does not find her and then finds her without any effort.

There is tension between the Greek locals, represented by Stephanie Nour’s new character Qwamar, and the Syrian refugees who work for them. But Qwamar is the only Syrian character worth paying attention to, and you know that by the end of the story, everyone will be dancing, drinking, and having a wonderful time together. In a small rural town, a young, bright, proudly non-binary girl (Melina) doesn’t know anyone, but she has a problem with xenophobia.

In the old days, we say, Dad had three dear friends. They are captured in a leather-bound memory book he kept as a teenager before coming to America. Libra is concerned about finding them so they can attend their reunion. But after wandering in the local markets and homes for several days, she gives up in despair. Of course, the three friends eventually join in because this isn’t a movie that can bear the disappointment of their absence, and their presence comes less from clever detective work than sheer luck.

Representatives of the younger generation cannot cope with their conflicts. Tula and her husband Ian (John Corbett) bring their daughter Paris (Elena Kambouris), and they are also joined by Paris’s attractive college boyfriend Aristotle (Elias Kakavas), a sweet, well-mannered young man. gender. What happened between them is an insignificant, completely self-inflicted “it’s not you, it’s me” maneuver, and it’s resolved in a brief conversation at the end of the story, which could have just as easily been when he was forced. Sit next to each other on the plane from Chicago.

Lani Kazan walks a tightrope created by Vardalos’ script, which deals with the now middle-aged children as Maria is in denial about the onset of Alzheimer’s disease. Maria has not yet recovered and mocks him at times, but the film eventually admits that a harsh truth is at stake. Kazan plays that moment so well – as do Vartalos and Mandler, that the characters realize what’s happening – reiterating that the success of the series lies in understanding the complexities that make great movies.

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Ian seems to embody the popular film storytelling ideal that should be fair, and this has now been proven commercially twice. He’s the perfect heterosexual: funny and goofy and lively, annoying, handsome and fit, without ever being pretentious or selfish, solid in a crisis, and naturally empathetic, without ever feeling like he’s trying too hard. There is nothing unpleasant or objectionable in it. He is acceptable to all life experiences and cultures: a vanilla ice cream cone in the shape of a person. If we’re being honest, there was no real conflict between him and Doola in the first movie. Yes, her family would love for her to marry a Greek, but it’s not like she brought home some big stand-up comic with a gambling problem.

Comedy cinematographer Barry Peterson (“Zoolander,” “Central Intelligence,” “Game Night”) is the film’s standout feature. It’s polite, tasteful, and helps the story, and wouldn’t have seemed commendable twenty years ago when a low level of professionalism was expected from big productions. If the compositions and lighting are nothing special. But the fact that Hollywood cinematography has languished in the digital age is now having a major impact. Note the clarity of night scenes filmed in forests and on paved roads. Additionally, there’s the way Peterson enhances the bright blue of the Aegean and the craggy lines of the Cyprus mountains, where much of the film was shot. Movies are more exciting than the story.

This second continuum survives in a next-level way: it survives drama and life. The Greek Tourist Board will love it. My Big Fat Greek Wedding 3 is a feel-good movie that will make you laugh, cry, and feel all the feels. It’s a perfect movie for anyone who loves family, food, and laughter.

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