To borrow a reference from another movie opening today, Toula (Nia Vardalos) is trying to be Wonder Woman. Her constant refrain in “My Big Fat Greek Wedding 2” is, “I have to fix this.”
She is still married to Ian (John Corbett), now a high school principal, and is mother to their 17-year-old daughter, is back working at the family restaurant after the travel agency fell victim to the economic downturn and is at the beck and call of her parents, who live next door.
Starring: Nia Vardalos, John Corbett, Lainie Kazan, Michael Constantine.
Rating: PG-13 for some suggestive material.
Toula is terrified that her only child, Paris (Elena Kampouris), will go to college out of state. The girl, however, grouses, “I can’t take that everyone is always in my business.” A college fair at school becomes a raucous extended family reunion complete with attempts to intimidate or bribe a recruiter.
As Toula tries to take the advice of her meddlesome aunt (scene stealer Andrea Martin) and go on a date with Ian – “Remember, you were a girlfriend before you were a mother” – a new crisis arises when it turns out the priest never signed the marriage license of her parents a half-century ago. Her mother (Lainie Kazan) always resented the fact that Gus (Michael Constantine) didn’t so much propose as clumsily invite her to come along to America and she wants a real proposal.
He balks, she digs in her heels and Toula is, as always, trying to fix this along with other minor crises, all of which are played for laughs.
It has been 14 years since the first “My Big Fat Greek Wedding,” written by and starring Ms. Vardalos. She returns as writer and counts on audience affection and knowledge of the characters, which was evident at a preview when the first appearance of a Windex bottle produced laughs.
The comedy is, as before, based on intense Greek pride, outright silliness or inappropriate comments as when Gus encourages his granddaughter to get a boyfriend (Greek, of course). “Don’t waste your eggs,” he advise. That is then compounded by Toula trying to smooth over what he said but making it worse.
“My Big Fat Greek Wedding 2” probably won’t be able to touch the box office take of “Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice” but it is the very definition of counterprogramming. Too often, though, it feels recycled or full of inflated problems (Toula’s parents live next door and the most critical health crisis is a bum hip) and it’s certainly not witty, sophisticated comedy. But it has a big heart and a noisy family ready to pitch in, defend itself against outsiders and celebrate its heritage.
It returns Joey Fatone and Gia Carides as cousins, and Louis Mandylor as Toula's brother and adds, in small roles, John Stamos and Rita Wilson. It had been Ms. Wilson who loved the one-woman show (which sprang from a script Ms. Vardalos wrote but couldn’t get read or produced) and, with the help of husband Tom Hanks, turned it into a movie. She performs the song, “Even More Mine,” that plays over the end credits.
The first movie, which was made for $5 million and grossed $369 million worldwide, spawned the CBS sitcom “My Big Fat Greek Life” in 2003. This sequel (rated PG-13 rather than the PG of the first) plays like a two-part episode of that series, which will either be good news or bad, depending on your affection for the family that travels on Windex, spanakopita and togetherness.
Movie editor Barbara Vancheri: bvancheri@post-gazette.com or 412-263-1632. Read her blog: www.post-gazette.com/madaboutmovies.
First Published: March 25, 2016, 4:00 a.m.
