Sophie was raised by her single mother on an idyllic Greek island and is about to get married. She has no idea who her father is. Naughtily reading her mother's old diary, she narrows the gene pool to three guys her mom dallied with twenty years ago and she invites them all to the wedding under false pretences.
Such is the unlikely framework for the musical Mamma Mia!, which serves as an excuse to string ABBA songs together. These are often only mildly appropriate to the situation at hand and though some have been edited slightly to fit the story and make sense in context, others will leave you scratching your head in confusion, the use of "The Winner Takes It All" being a prime example. I saw the Dutch stage version of this musical a couple of years back, and the movie appears to be faithful to its theatre roots.
Watching Mamma Mia! is like being repeatedly slapped about the face with a rainbow while being told to turn your frown upside down. At the beginning you might feel a bit left out of the aggressively cheerful camaraderie that unites most of the cast from the very start. It's like coming sober to a party where the others are already tipsy and well into the swing of things. There are two reactions to this movie: go with it and smile or flee the theatre and don't look back.
It's obvious that the cast was having a ball and their fun is infectious. Not all of them are equally gifted when it comes to singing. Let's just say that you will be glad that James Bond (Pierce Brosnan) never belted one out for his own opening credits. Meryl Streep does a little better, thankfully, as she does a lot more warbling than Brosnan. But the overall lack of polish is part of the charm. Nobody seems to be taking any of it seriously. Some of the dancing is especially over the top silly, never more so than when a row of boys in flippers strut their stuff on a sun-drenched dock. I couldn't help but feel a bit embarrassed for them.
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Article comments
1 - Jen
Your third paragraph is priceless-- I couldn't agree more. Admittedly I am an ABBA fan but to quote Roger Ebert, "I HATED, HATED, HATED THIS MOVIE" (for proof on just how much, I've linked to my review in the URL line). Although this being said it's still better than The Tracey Fragments which was so bad, I can't even bring myself to review it.
Anyway, keep up the great work!
- Jen
2 - Rosie B
This is truly the best movie I have seen in ages. It was hilarious from start to finish. I have seen it twice. Meryl Streep is having a ball as well as the rest of the cast! Completely refreshing!!!! I can't wait to buy it!
3 - Christopher Rose
Rosie B, you need to get out more. If the vision of a bunch of seriously aged stars desperately trying to act half their age whilst singing and dancing pretty badly is your idea of a good movie, well, you deserve to see it both in the cinema and on DVD. Every day for the rest of your life...
4 - sue
It was a brilliant feel good film which brought people together. The cinemas in UK were full of people from aged 5 - 100. People were dancing in the aisles. People were having fun. Pierce was brilliant because he tried to sing - how many of us would love to sing but are scared to try. I loved the movie.
5 - Michael
"It's like coming sober to a party where the others are already tipsy and well into the swing of things. "
That is why I did not go to watch it sober. It is a terrible movie and I loved almost every minute of it. It isn't a film; it's a big ridiculous party down to the exploding water and the awesome jumpsuits.