Too many years have passed since we last visited the Portokalos clan.
Now when they get together – for “My Big Fat Greek Wedding 3” – we expect something more than warmed-over one-liners spritzed with a little Windex.
Still, that’s what’s on the table. Writer/director/star Nia Vardalos sends the clan to Greece (of course) where they hope to bring their late father’s journal to his friends. A reunion in his village is the ruse but, when they get there, the family finds no one home.
Rather than use the time to see the country (and create a dandy travelogue), Toula (Vardalos) noses into a local couple’s relationship. She also wants to know where her dad’s good buddies happen to be. That gets Joey Fatone and Gia Carides in the picture and a little of that sightseeing everyone else seems to be missing.
Meanwhile, Toula and her husband Ian (John Corbett) must determine what course of action they need to take with their daughter. She, too, is on the trip and, apparently, not excelling in college. There’s an ex in the crowd, but that’s not an issue.
Much, in fact, is up in the air. The only grounded member of the clan is Aunt Voula (Andrea Martin) who has a great one-liner when you need it the most. She finds laughs even when Vardalos wasn’t counting on them.
Brother Nick (Louis Mandylor) tends to walk around naked and handle personal grooming in public. He’s little more than sight gag but could have been one to figure into the title package.
Instead, that honor goes to a couple the Portokalos family meets in the homeland. There’s discord (one member isn’t Greek – spoiler alert) but all goes well when Toula gets a chance to tell her story and straighten things out.
Dad’s friends turn up, as well, but not long enough to discover what made their bond so tenuous they weren’t at the reunion in the first place.
Much, in fact, is hazy in this outing. Because it’s been more than 20 years since we first met Toula and her tribe, details drift.
Because dad’s dead and mom’s unable to make the trip, there’s not enough heft on the side of tradition to make this anything more than a family reunion.
Vardalos, sadly, doesn’t get to do much more than listen to others. Corbett is similarly saddled.
Daughter Paris (Elena Kampouris) could have been more than a homework shirker but that wouldn’t have given “Greek Wedding” time to find a third.
Dancing and eating are laced throughout the film but a better course of action might have been to re-release the first film. It was an original. This is just a photocopy of the way they were.
