My Big Fat Greek Wedding 3 (2024)

I watched this as the last movie on a Trans-Atlantic flight--which did not involve alcohol, but it was essentially 10PM at night for me--this is a situation in which I am usually most forgiving. I also confess to liking the well-worn treads of even mediocre romantic comedy. So I am bucking the trend and saying this is a not terrible sequel to an original that I very much enjoyed. Much like the first movie, these people are not beautiful people, as one reviewer said "this is not the Hollywood alternatice universe where Julia Roberts couldn't get a date", instead these are people you might run into at church (especially if you go to a Greek Orthodox Church, because the cast is also authenitcally Greek--except for the ones who aren't supposed to be. Gus, the patriarch of the Portokalos clan has died (this happened in real life as well), and Toula is tasked with getting the clan to her father's home village for a reunion of his childhood friends. Not one of the current generation has been there, and the scene is Greek island paradise in a dilapidated and uninhabited town. And you guessed it, very little happens--the movie is more about people and relationships than action of any sort.THere are multiple subplots going on, none of them to hard to solve, nobody is trying too hard and everyone is likable in their own way by the movie's end. An ending which predictably allows for another film to follow. This is a movie franchise that is better liked by audiences than critics, and while it is not one for the ages, it is a comfortable movie to settle in with and no one will find it objectionable.