MY BIG FAT GREEK WEDDING 2 Review

It has been fourteen years since My Big Fat Greek Wedding took America by storm and grossed $241 million domestic on a $5 million budget. It's a wonder that this isn't the third or fourth sequel to the film especially given writer and star Nia Vardalos has found little success outside of her Greek origins. Vardalos has written three features in between her Wedding features, none of which reached the commercial success of her breakout and thus the reason we're likely back here. If you enjoyed getting to know the Portokalos clan then you will no doubt enjoy their company this time around as well. Not much has changed beyond some of the dynamics shifting given the inescapable fact time does go on, but this seems to be the major point of issue for Vardalos when crafting the script: how might one develop characters who are so stuck in their ways? To answer this question and provide some deeper insight into who these people are (or more accurately who they once were and how they've become the characters we see today) Vardalos undoes the basis of the entire family: she discredits her mother and father's marriage by revealing it was never properly acknowledged by the church. For Gus (Michael Constantine) and Maria (Lainie Kazan) this more or less makes the lives they've been living for the past fifty years something of a sin and a sham. Of course, Gus wants to correct things as quick as possible and have his marriage acknowledged by the church, but with this new found information Maria is eager to soak up her new found freedom and make her "husband" earn her love for him, elaborate proposal and all. Couple this with Toula (Vardalos) and Ian (John Corbett) dealing with the impending high school graduation of their only daughter, Paris (Elena Kampouris), and there's more than enough material for Vardalos to mine obvious comedy out of without actually mining the characters for any real insight or genuine arc.

First Trailer for MY BIG FAT GREEK WEDDING 2

It's been thirteen years since writer/producer Nia Vardalos burst onto the scene with one of the biggest independent films of all time. Despite never holding the number one spot at the American box office, My Big Fat Greek Wedding went on to earn almost $369 million, a return of over sixty-one times it's $5 million budget. For that reason, it is the second most profitable film of all time after the first Paranormal Activity film. I can remember going to our local theater at the age of fifteen with a group of family members who were eager to get in on what the fuss was all about. I don't remember much of the first film other than it being my introduction to John Corbett and it including Joey Fatone from *Nsync in a random supporting role, but here we are thirteen years later and Vardalos' career has never again reached the heights of her 2002 break-out. In some ways, simply based on the box office success, a sequel to the film was inevitable, but given it has been so long since the first film this sequel is not only for the purposes of cashing in on a known brand, but likely one of the few viable options left for Vardalos. Granted, the sequel could be more interesting given the amount of time that has passed between the two films and the fact it seems they were able to get most of the original cast to reprise their roles, but the shoehorning in of another wedding just for the sake of the title feels as forced as this entire movie seems to be. There is no need for this movie and yet I understand why Vardalos would risk tainting the image and memories of the first one for another shot at relevance and a pay day that might last her another thirteen years until she has to write My Big Fat Greek Wedding 3. My Big Fat Greek Wedding 2 also stars Michael Constantine, Lainie Kazan, Andrea Martin, Gia Carides, Louis Mandylor, Alex Wolff, John Stamos and opens on March 25, 2016.

THE BOY NEXT DOOR Review

The Boy Next Door is ridiculous, outlandish and all-around pretty dumb. The good thing is, once we get to the third act of this ridiculousness we have a firm grip on whether or not the people behind the movie understand that as well. This is comforting on an intelligence level, but alarming in knowing this is what they'll make some serious profit off of. The Boy Next Door cost a minuscule $4 million to make and will easily recoup that with a ton of gravy on top in its first weekend because it is exactly the kind of movie its target audience wants to see on a cold January afternoon. Still, there is no way around the fact the movie is still pretty bad despite much of it seeming intentional and yet there is nothing from those first two acts to suggest its intentions. Instead, it initially seems director Rob Cohen and his cast were decidedly set on making a serious thriller. It is one of those films that should be a guilty pleasure, one that is fun to watch whenever you don't really feel like thinking, where you're envious of the world these people live in because it seems so picture perfect only to have it rocked by the drama and scandal you fed off of as a teenager. The Boy Next Door largely meets those qualifications, but isn't necessarily the one you would pick for the job when there are so many other, more competent satires of this type of film out there that will not only make you feel less stupid for wasting your time on them, but also have a little fun with their premise. It's almost as if Cohen tried not to have any fun or poke any jokes at the story for those first two acts before throwing his hands in the air and yelling, "to hell with it!" and putting all his eggs in the basket of his climax. By virtue of this being one of those movies we quickly label "so bad it's good" one feels inclined to forgive much of its shortcomings, but just because the finale inspires confidence that Cohen and his crew knew what we hoped they did all along doesn't make it a good movie. This is still a bad movie, one that almost doesn't feel fun enough to earn that aforementioned label, but it has its moments and I can't say I didn't laugh at all-because there is certainly some laughing to be had.