The Portokolos family finds themselves at the center of another matrimony of chaos, in “My Big Fat Greek Wedding2”. The sequel to the 2002 smash hit, shows our lovable family of Greeks driving each other crazy. At the center of it all, Still working in her parents’ Greek restaurant, Toula Portokalos (Screenwriter Nia Vardalos) observes life as a parent and high school volleyball coach, while her daughter Paris (Elena Kampouros) is growing up. Paris is getting ready to graduate high school, and Toula and Ian (John Corbett) are experiencing marital issues. When Toula’s parents Gus (Michael Constantine) and Maria (Lainie Kazan) find out they were never officially married, another mayhem in wedding planning consumes the family and all of their ever-growing troubles. Can this big, fat, Greek event help to bring the family together, Or will the pressures of past troubles tear their love apart? “My Big Fat Greek Wedding 2” is directed by Kirk Jones, and is rated PG-13 for some suggestive material.
After a successful first film, Vardalos shopped her cast of cooky characters to network television. What became of it wasn’t a positive, as the show was cancelled after only one season. But fourteen years after the first film, audiences get their characters back for 90 minutes of hijinks and gags that made them laugh the first time. Does it work? I think so. The comedy had me laughing a few times, even if a couple of the setups are quite predictable. I am a sucker for 90’s sitcom humor, and that is what “My Big Fat Greek Wedding 2” feels like, a collection of three different episodes fused together to offer the audience the chance at a goodbye to the Portokalos family.
The movie’s screenplay highlights the attention to detail with every character, even if the film doesn’t have a lot of screen time to offer them all. Vardalos knows her characters well because living as a Greek is all she has ever known. She has great devotion to the source material, and it’s in that reasoning why this film passes more than it fails. Her script feels like it was perfectly executed to be with a laugh track playing off of every laugh, but it left me so thankful that I served as the laugh track in the scenario because there are some genuine solid laughs to go with some deeply heartfelt family moments. I wouldn’t ever want to spend an hour with this family, but Vardalos does a validated job of implementing just how important it is that they all have each other, even if the mayhem is a little too much to handle sometimes. The film is paced pretty exceptionally, but if I had one gripe with Nia’s pen, it comes in the form of subplots that are either introduced and forgotten about, or introduced a little too late in the film to really care. On the former, Rita Wilson (Executive producer herself) and John Stamos make surprise cameos as a couple, but they don’t really feel like anything more than a wink to the audience for the kind of surprises the movie can pull in just because it can. As far as late subplots go, the film introduces a prom storyline for Paris, the brother of Gus showing up for the first time in years, and a character in the family with his own hidden secret. This all is introduced for the first time with a half hour left of the movie. It gives the film a feeling like it needs to squeeze more in than just the wedding planning schtick, but it’s wrong. The film prospered the most when Gus and Maria are ready to kill each other.
On that topic, the work of Michael Constantine is the very glue that holds this family and this film together. He is definitely the stubborn one of the group, but his naivity works in your love for the character, as he executes a childlike innocence when he realizes he’s gone too far. He shows excellent comedic timing in playing out the most in every reaction, but its definitely the chemistry with Kazan that shows why they are far and away the most interesting characters of the film. As Maria, Lainie serves as the protector and the running engine of this family’s daily routines. She’s the voice of stability to Gus’s Greek madness, and their relationship feels authentic, even if a certificate is holding them back. Vardalos has her time to shine on-screen as well, but there is definitely that point in the film where you feel her status as the main character slipping away to more important ventures. Nia is smart in this decision with her screenplay, as the attention should go where the laughs are.
Overall, “My Big Fat Greek Wedding 2” is a squeeze for the last drops of tasty humor that this ensemble first poured into our tall glasses fourteen years ago. This isn’t the most original of ideas, but there is certainly enough harmless fun here to give fans of the original a tasteful goodbye to these Greek traditionalists.
6/10