The reviews lean towards qualified enjoyment, with most critics finding warmth and laughs in a familiar romantic comedy rather than much substance. Praise centres on Nia Vardalos’s charm, physical humour and chemistry with Corbett, while the extended Greek family supplies much of the comedy. The family scenes draw particular appreciation for their comic timing, with Gus singled out as a useful source of laughs.
Reservations cluster around the thin, predictable story and a script that does little with its broader themes. Most assessments sit close together in mixed territory, but the dissent is sharp. Empire is more enthusiastic, finding darker, sharper humour beneath the familiar plotting. The Guardian takes the opposite view, regarding the family as caricatures and the jokes as unsubtle, with sentiment doing too much of the work. The divide concerns how funny and affectionate the familiar material feels, rather than how original it is.