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Apparently, another record was broken his weekend. Mamma Mia! managed to have the best opening for a musical. However, I’m not surprised it’s been left out of the media hype because if you don’t like musicals or at least like ABBA, you are really not going to enjoy this movie. Thankfully, I’m quite happy with both.
Like most musicals, it’s not heavy on the plot. A young girl is getting married and wants her father to walk her down the aisle, except she doesn’t know who her father is and her mother isn’t quite sure either. Introduce three possible dads and set on a gorgeous Greek island and it’s quite a bit of fluff, but solid and enjoyable. The real plot anyway is how will they segue to the next ABBA song and what will it be? The plot actually has more bones than “Across the Universe.”
The reason why Mamma Mia! probably has been such a consistent favorite on Broadway for so long is that Abba is not only so singable, but so amazingly danceable. The movie crosses over with this very well since the whole thing is set on some gorgeous Greek island with amazing background scenery, lots of steps to run up and down and wildly lush color schemes in the costumes and the furniture. Everything is pleasing on the eyes. There is also a ridiculously stereotyped cast of Mediterranean locals providing the “Greek chorus” (if you will) in the background. One of the most satisfying scenes is when Meryl Streep (playing the mother of the bride) dances through town and all the women join in behind her singing ‘Dancing Queen’. You want to imagine that the heavyset women in peasant smocks are happy frolicking singers trapped in an era of small-town, old-world bliss like some sort of Greek version of “Brigadoon.” 
That is not to say the movie is without problems. The most glaring issue (besides that all the Brits arrive on the island already sporting great tans) is that Meryl Streep is just too old. She’s going to be 60 next year and I’m not saying she doesn’t look great, it’s just that the character should really be 40 or max 43years old. She’s supposed to have gotten accidentally knocked up 20 years ago in the midst of her wild years… which usually happen in people’s early 20’s.
Leaving the problems of math aside for a minute, more difficult to overcome was Streep’s over-acting. Maybe it was intentional, but I think she over Broadway-ed the way she sang everything. Each note had three or four flourishing gestures which distracted from the fact that she’s got a decent voice. Even when she’s not singing, she was breathlessly running here and there (maybe trying to convince us she was a 40 year old?)
Ah, but you know who’s singing was really painful? Pierce Brosnan. Whoa! It’s not that he can’t hold a note it’s simply that he has no emotion. If you thought his acting was stiff (I’ve always thought he may have been the first person to ever have their whole face injected with Botox way back when), well his singing is even worse. The audience laughed … painfully. Some might want to see the movie just for the horror show quality his solo provided.
Overall though, I liked it. I wouldn’t drag anyone to see it who isn’t really clear about what they are getting themselves into, but if you like ABBA or musicals or gorgeous Greek scenery or just good campy fun then I think you should go. It left me humming all night and wanting to pull out my old Abba 8-tracks, I mean playlist, and keep that lighthearted summer movie feeling going.
marisa (44 posts)Lives happily in upstate Manhattan with a small dog and an amazing woman who weirdly doesn't watch movies very often. (I guess you can't have perfection.)
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i really enjoyed this, as it was so much fun. They clearly had a great time making it. I definitely agree though that people should only go see it if they know what’s in store.
Comment by Helen — Thu July 24, 2008 @ 23:33I’ve had Abba in my head all week! Great review!
Comment by sunnyd — Sun July 27, 2008 @ 17:26I like ABBA and love musicals. But I emphatically hated this film! Al the more strange since I was quite prepared to like it (and even expected I would).
Comment by Mariken — Fri August 8, 2008 @ 21:11The entire cast acts as if in desperate need of a dose (or two) of Ritalin, a lot of the singing is dreadfull (Brosnan clearly hoped people would be too busy ogling his chesthair to notice his appalling phrasing) and the whole thing looks as if it was filmed in a studio (a cheap studio at that).
The only slightly redeeming factors are Meryl Streep (who indeed, and in keeping with the tone of the film I thought, overacts but at least looks as if she know’s what she’s doing) and Julie Walters and Christine Baranski as the three best friends. (And, fair is fair: Colin Firth briefly appearsing in a wet shirt – in true “mr. Darcy after a swim in the lake” style – sigh….).
But besides that I thought this film was so incredibly bad it did not even have camp value.
sorry…..
I love ABBA and couldn’t wait to see this movie but I did find it disappointing. It seemed to be a ‘filmed musical’ rather than ‘a film based on a musical’, if that makes sense.
I think the best musicals are either the ones that are outrageously camp and gloriously over-the-top like ‘Moulin Rouge’. Or those like ‘The Sound of Music’ where you have a great drama and characters who burst into song as if it’s the most natural thing in the world. (Gene Kelly performing ‘Singin’ in the Rain’ is another example.)
This I think failed because the performances were so exaggerated. It was like the director told the cast: “Act hysterically!!!!!!” [Note my hysterical use of punctuation to make the point.]
And I totally agree with Mariken’s Ritalin comment!
But perhaps that all makes sense when Phyllida Lloyd is more of a theater director than a film director.
I also agree with Mariken in that the whole thing looked like it was “filmed in a studio (a cheap studio at that)”. Probably all the budget went on paying Meryl Streep, Pierce Brosnan and Colin Firth. Shame as they could have done with spending it on a decent choreographer and voice coach – especially for Pierce Brosnan! Terrible! Not to mention his cardboard acting in this one. A certain fall from glory from his Bond heyday.
I think the casting director assumed everyone would want the “classically handsome” (someone else’s words, not mine) Pierce Brosnan as the ‘main guy’, but actually Colin Firth would have been FAR more believable in that role and had more chemistry with Meryl Street. The ‘daughter’ would also have been far more suitable in some role as an American cheerleader. And don’t even start me on Christine Baranski (Tanya). What were they thinking? I would have liked to have seen more of Julia Walters too. She seemed to get quite a few dud lines.
What I DID like, however, was… the ‘Dancing Queen’ scene. That was fun; I would have killed to have been an extra.
And, actually, I thought Meryl Streep had a great voice and pretty much carried the movie (I never once thought she was too old for her role). I thought her best moment was actually during ‘The Winner Takes It All’ and when her acting had calmed down during the wedding scene.
And I loved the cameo appearances by ‘Benny’.
I wouldn’t say it was worth seeing but I wouldn’t say it was not worth seeing it… It was so-so. I think the greatest tragedy is that it could have been sooooo much better with just a few tweaks here and there.
Comment by PiP — Wed August 13, 2008 @ 1:25