Nostalgia like fear is a liar. All you’re trying to do is recapture the magic and sadly My Big Fat Greek Wedding 3 just can’t find it.
My Big Fat Greek Wedding was released 21 years ago and felt fresh. We got to see family relations through a different set of immigrant eyes than those we had grown accustomed to on the big screen, Greek ones. It was wonderful, joyful and most of all felt authentic. This is what diversity means, letting us see and hear different viewpoints. Well, that was then.
Roll on 21 years and Toula and co. head back to the homeland to fulfill her father’s dying wish. It felt as if most of the cast were dialling in their lines. The dialogue and characters, especially those of mainland Greeks, were a shocking mixture of stereotypes and humourless cliches!
Nostalgia, a Greek word, means going back to pain and this often felt painful to watch. I did laugh at times and it’s only 90 mins long but it felt sad it wasn’t better.
My Big Fat Greek Wedding was released in UK cinemas on 8 September.
