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October 31, 2024 "Goodness Is Being Kind and Generous" - Interview with Wendy Liebman
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Movie Review: My Big Fat Greek Wedding 3
October 5, 2023
By Bessy ADUT
This was the last and the most fun summer movie of the year and has been a good closing for the summer season. This is a romantic family comedy written by Nia Vardalos as the third sequel to My Big Fat Greek Wedding. It was mostly filmed in Athens, Greece.
In this movie, we follow the Portokalos family when they go on an adventure for a family reunion after the death of Gus (the father of the main character). He has a legacy, he wanted his old friends to come together and receive his journal.
In the beginning, we see Toula talking to her aging mother who seems to have memory problems. However, they are very gentle with her. Toula is excited to take a break from her restaurant business and go on a vacation to Europe with her family.
Along the journey, many plot twists happen such as the teenagers who apparently had a bad date in the past, come together with family pressure and give a rebirth to a nice romance.
Not only we get beautiful sightseeing visual tours in Greece but the accompanying Greek soundtrack was also very pleasant throughout the movie.
The reviews about the movie seem to be almost fifty-fifty, I am personally on the more positive note as I do like feel-good family movies. We all need relaxation and warm laughter in our busy, hard lives. That’s why I would recommend the film.
There is a nice family reunion in the film from different walks of life. Even though when they get to their final destination, they can’t seem to find any of the other guests who are supposed to meet them there. However, with a romantic twist, a new wedding manages to bring everyone together in an upbeat tone.
Scenes from the Greek hometown are very heartwarming, as Greece isn’t too far from home, it does remind Turkish family traditions and summer locations in many ways.
Toula does everything in her power to grant her father’s last wish and manages to get his beloved friends together to hand over the journal that tells the story of his life. I guess that could be the theme of the possible 4th movie then we would expect a period piece.
As an immigrant family living in the United States, it is really nice for Toula and her family to retrace her father’s steps and find a closing connection to him and his upbringing. It also seems refreshing to get away from the busy and stressful city life and find peace in a little village.
There are many stereotypical funny characters that work for this comedy such as the aunties who keep saying everything is ‘bad luck’ and the teenagers roll their eyes at them but listen deep inside.
This trip brings all family have a better spiritual connection with one another and brings them closer to their roots in their hometown.
The story touches on ‘grief’ of course there is a sad feeling of losing their father, however, they cherish all the good memories and family ties he left behind. Although there is sadness after saying goodbye to a loved one, it is important to acknowledge and cherish what is at hand in life. Sometimes deaths actually make us realize that we are not going to live forever and we should try to enjoy every moment and love another.
In a technical sense, the film has a very natural feel cinematography. Most of it seems to be filmed in daylight or using natural-looking lighting. As I mentioned earlier, the film’s music was remarkable. I have heard many nice songs complimenting each other with beautiful cinematic shots. The whole movie feels like a beautiful melancholic dream with a lot of sadness and happiness mixed together.
For the ones, who may not know the main character of the movie Nila Vardalos is also the writer and director of this sequel and one of the producers happens to be our good old Tom Hanks.
In this movie, we witness the Members of the Portokalos family reunite in Greece for a hilarious and heartwarming trip full of love, twists and turns. This is a movie to be enjoyed by all age groups as a family film.
I haven’t read the negative critics on this movie although when I mentioned seeing it to a good screenwriter friend of mine, she told me there were many bad reviews about it. It’s best to go see a movie yourselves without letting negative reviews affect your opinion. I really enjoyed this movie as I didn’t have any high expectations. I went hoping to feel good and the movie did not disappoint. And I saw many similarities between our culture and theirs. And what I mean by culture, I mean our Jewish culture too as we love our family reunions and weddings as well! Film is also very relatable to any immigrants who have a new life in a different country; the warming feeling of being in the homeland again. In the beginning of the movie, there is a nice little monologue of the main character explaining that in her inner voice that sets the tone.
At the end of the movie, many characters have changed their relationships with one another. The movie makes us feel like we are really going on a family vacation with them. There is the main plot of the father’s death, his legacy journal to be found and given to his old friends but there are also many ongoing side plots and romances that keep the movie interesting. There is certainly some ethnic humor but that’s a nature of the beast and shouldn’t bother the audience. Making fun of its own is a sign of wisdom, not taking itself too seriously. Hope you see and enjoy this movie! As the weather starts to get colder it will warm you inside with a sweet summer breeze!
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