Plot Summary: Meryl Streep leads an all-star cast in the feature-film
adaptation of the beloved musical that has been seen by more than 30 million
people in 160 cities and 8 languages around the world.
Review: The delirious
sight of Meryl Streep leading a river of multigenerational women singing
"Dancing Queen" is one of the high points of Mamma Mia!, the musical
built around the songs of the hugely popular pop group ABBA. The plot sets in
motion when Sophie (Amanda Seyfried, Mean Girls), daughter of Donna (Streep),
sends a letter to three men, inviting them to her wedding--because after reading
her mother's diary, she suspects that one of them is her father. When all three
arrive at the Greek island where Donna runs a hotel, Donna flips out and finds
that passions she thought she'd laid aside are coming back to life. But let's
face it, the plot is not the point--it's a ridiculous contrivance that provides
an excuse for the characters to sing the massive hits of ABBA. Regrettably,
first-time film director Phyllida Lloyd (who directed the original stage
production) has drawn over-the-top performances from everyone involved, even
Streep; every production number hammers its exuberance into your eyeballs. Which
is too bad, because Mamma Mia! is a rarity: A middle-aged love story.
The kids start things off, but the story is really about Streep and the three
guys (former James Bond Pierce Brosnan, former Mr. Darcy Colin Firth, and
Swedish star Stellan Skarsgard), as well as Donna's best friends (Christine
Baranski, best known from the TV show Cybill, and Julie Walters,
Calendar Girls). It's a romantic comedy aimed at the people who were around
when all these songs were new, and that's an age group Hollywood largely
ignores. For that alone, Mamma Mia! deserves to find an audience
Mama Mia! Release Date: July 18, 2008 Studio: Universal Pictures Director: Phyllida Lloyd Screenwriter: Catherine Johnson Starring: Meryl Streep, Pierce Brosnan, Colin Firth, Stellan Skarsgård,
Julie Walters, Dominic Cooper, Amanda Seyfried, Christine Baranski Genre: Comedy, Musical, Romance MPAA Rating: PG-13 (for some sex-related comments) Official Website: MammaMiamovie.com
Plot Summary: Meryl Streep leads an all-star cast in the feature-film
adaptation of the beloved musical that has been seen by more than 30 million
people in 160 cities and 8 languages around the world. Bringing the timeless
lyrics and melodies of iconic super group ABBA to movie audiences, Summer 2008
is the season for "Mamma Mia!"
The three women who created the worldwide smash stage hit--global producer Judy
Craymer, writer Catherine Johnson and director Phyllida Lloyd--repeat their
roles in bringing this joyful, musical story to the big screen. The Mamma Mia!
film is produced by Judy Craymer and Gary Goetzman.
Pierce Brosnan, Colin Firth, Stellan Skarsgård, Christine Baranski, Julie
Walters, Amanda Seyfried and Dominic Cooper join Streep in this celebration of a
mother, a daughter and three possible dads.
An independent, single mother who owns a small hotel on an idyllic Greek island,
Donna (Streep) is about to let go of Sophie (Amanda Seyfried), the spirited
daughter she's raised alone. For Sophie's wedding, Donna has invited her two
lifelong best girlfriends--practical and no-nonsense Rosie (Julie Walters) and
wealthy, multi-divorcee Tanya (Christine Baranski)--from her one-time backing
band, Donna and the Dynamos. But Sophie has secretly invited three guests of her
own.
On a quest to find the identity of her father to walk her down the aisle, she
brings back three men from Donna's past to the Mediterranean paradise they
visited 20 years earlier. Over 24 chaotic, magical hours, new love will bloom
and old romances will be rekindled on this lush island full of possibilities.
Inspired by the storytelling magic of ABBA's songs from "Dancing Queen" and "S.O.S."
to "Money, Money, Money" and "Take a Chance on Me," Mamma Mia! is a celebration
of mothers and daughters, old friends and new family found.
EN 5 Second Review:
Somewhere in our 70's hearts we want to recommend this
movie, then we realize just how cheezy we are in our 70's hearts. Not
nearly as cheezy as this movie.
It
came as quite a surprise that I liked this musical so much that
I’d hate to find fault Peter Veugelaers:
EntertainmentNutz.com
It came as quite a surprise that I liked this musical so much
that I’d hate to find fault. In fact, at a closer look, it’s a pretty
sad commentary on the state of male-female relationships.
Sophie (Amanda Seyfried) is getting married and wants her long-lost
father to be there giving her away, a gorgeous damsel-in-distress
scenario, or a cute princess needing to be rescued predicament. Her
mother, Donna (Meryl Streep), is likeable enough with her curly locks
and country-bumpkin outfit which makes her like the ugly duckling.
She lives with Sophie on an idyllic Greek island and runs her own
business. Sophie sends three of her suspected father’s, invitations to
her wedding after she finds their addresses in her mother’s diary. One’s
arrival brings back old hurts to haunt Donna. There happens to be three
contenders, though, played by Pierce Brosnan, Stellan Skarsgard and
Colin Firth.
Donna’s got to get over stuff, such as what’s depicted as good-ole
Catholic guilt over having a child out-of-wedlock and having too many
partners when she was young, especially when not one, but three, men
come over twenty-years later. Oh, well, that’s the past; wash your hair
of it. Not that easy. Could be she didn’t want to be a solo mother in
the first place and the Daddy’s to blame, so much for moments of
romance.
What Donna and Sophie really need to do is resolve the whole issue
together, woman-to-woman, a situation which is a mess. Leave the men out
of it.
Mamma Mia is a woman’s-film no doubt where sweetest of
passions means they don’t think about the next day, except if you happen
to be a success as a solo mother later on and happen to get three men
knocking on your door at the same time who are more successful.
Like the noticeably glossy done-over look of the photography and the
lardy voices of actors tunefully unaware of ABBA as they pitch happily
yet uncomfortably it looks like a sketchy fantasy on the surface, based
on the musical of the same name, where the realities of life get
swallowed up in the goofy rendition of the feel-good ambiance of an ABBA
hit. But like those lyrics squeezed angst out of relationships this
story does the same. When you learn growing up about how easy it is for
a woman to lose in love, even through a misunderstanding, then in order
to keep a man you got to comply and adapt or else face separation. Your
heart goes out for Sophie. This is more than a glossed-up fantasy.
Cheese
-- but what wonderfully salty, sinfully satisfying cheese it is Linda Bernard: Toronto Star
Set on an idyllic Greek island, the music is the message.
Catherine Johnson's story seems cribbed together to justify the endless
flow of 22 ABBA hits penned by Benny Andersson, Björn Ulvaeus and Stig
Anderson. (Keep your eyes peeled for Andersson as a grizzled piano
player in "Dancing Queen.")...more
Everything's
in twinkle overdrive. As with most stage-to-screen
transfers, about a half-hour of material has been excised,
and Mamma Mia! never had that much story to begin
with Michael Phillips: Chicago Tribune
It’s funny what you buy completely onstage and resist
completely, or nearly, on-screen. Case in point: “Mamma
Mia!” —the ABBA-fueled stage phenomenon that has now become
“Mamma Mia! The Movie.”...more
EN 5 Second Review:
Somewhere in our 70's hearts we want to recommend this
movie, then we realize just how cheezy we are in our 70's hearts. Not
nearly as cheezy as this movie.
