Nia Vardalos brings the MBFGW gang back together and has them do the same old schtick. Photo / Supplied
Nia Vardalos brings the MBFGW gang back together and has them do the same old schtick. Photo / Supplied
‘First time funny, second time silly, third time a spanking”. So went a now-obsolete and socially unacceptable parental threat from last century. This warning clearly fell on the deaf ears of writer-director-star Nia Vardalos. In this trilogy of increasingly unfunny and out-of-date rom-coms about a large Greek immigrant family, theytravel to the motherland to fulfil their dead father’s last wish.
The plot doesn’t require any more explanation than that, but the performances could have done with a lot more rehearsal as Toula (Vardalos, looking fab at 60) and the extended Portokalos family tip up in a typical picturesque village peopled solely by an over-excited young mayor and a sinister old matriarch whose perma-frown forms the basis of repetitive “gags”.
In 2002, when we still thought that over-acted slapstick and cultural stereotyping were funny, Vardalos made a smash hit out of sending up Toula’s traditional parents’ view of love and marriage. But we’ve seen a multitude of coming-to-America tales since then, and everyone knows the tropes of oppressive obligations to family-run businesses and the older folk’s aversion to mixed-race relationships.
Ignoring the lacklustre response to her dull 2016 sequel, Vardalos brings the gang back together and has them do the same old schtick, the next couple of chemistry-free youth are match-made by interfering aunties, and the locals put on a party.
The film’s only saving grace is its stunning setting on the island of Corfu. This third Big Fat Greek Wedding is so painfully unfunny, totally silly and utterly pointless that I won’t be accepting an invitation to the fourth.
Rating out of 5: ★½
My Big Fat Greek Wedding 3 directed by Nia Vardalos is in cinemas now
