REVIEW: Mamma Mia!

Last night I experienced a pleasant and unexpected departure from all the recent family drama when my friend, Bobby, invited me to go and see MAMMA MIA. I had wanted to see it anyway, because I am a big ABBA fan, so I accepted.

MAMMA MIA is the movie version of the famous Broadway musical, which is about a girl named Sophie (Amanda Seyfried) who has been raised on a Greek island by Donna (Meryl Streep,) her aging hippie mom. Sophie is getting married and longs to know who her father is so he can walk her down the aisle. After reading her mother's diary from 20 years before, 3 possible dads emerge within its pages. Not expecting anything to come of it, Sophie invites them and is blindsided when all 3 men turn up a day before the wedding: dapper divorced dad of 2 Sam Carmichael (Pierce Brosnan,) introverted single guy Harry Bright (Colin Firth,) and Swedish outdoorsman Bill Anderson (Stellan Skarsgard.)

Naturally, the rest of the movie is a comedy of errors as the story works to reveal which man is the father. Sophie's mom, Donna, is also supported by her former girl-band back-up singers Rosie (Julie Walters) and Tanya (Christine Baranski.) ABBA's songs are peppered throughout the show and, being very familiar with all but one of them, it was fun to see which songs would be used in which situation. And I was surprised by the ending, which is not as predictable as you might expect.

The story moves forward at a good pace. ABBA's songs are always so fun that they never slow it down when they're planted in different places. I have never heard of Amanda Seyfried, but I thought she did a great job. My other favorites were Colin Firth and Julie Walters, but I'm biased because they are 2 of my favorite actors. Meryl Streep is a capable singer (I think she sounds a lot like Cher) and usually stole every scene she was in, although sometimes her character was so twitchy I wanted to strap her down. My least favorite was, amazingly, Pierce Brosnan, who sang so horribly and was so uncomfortable-looking in this role that he just had this constipated air about him throughout the entire movie. I guess you can't win them all. But, to loosen things up, it was hilarious to see Donna and her friends belting out songs while wearing their old sequined outfits and platform shoes. Streep, Walters, and Baranski were the heartbeats of the movie in my opinion.

I usually rate movies on whether I'd like to see them again and, possibly, add them to my DVD collection when they are released. In the case of MAMMA MIA I wouldn't mind owning it, but I can also see myself getting impatient sitting in front of it and downgrading it to something I would have on in the background.

The best character is still the music, with ABBA's sing-a-long melodies and driving beats, and you don't need to own the movie to enjoy them. Go buy their 2 greatest hits CDs, ABBA Gold and ABBA Gold II. The original group's voices are far superior than any in the movie and you can listen to the CD anywhere.

Overall, you'll enjoy the movie, but you'll love the music. Music: A / Movie: B