When Sophie, who lives on an idyllic Greek island with her mother Donna, decides to get married, she wants absolutely everyone there. And that includes her father, whom she doesn't know. Finding a diary of her mothers from the year she was born, she discovers three possible names - Harry, Sam and Bill - tracks them down and sends each of them an invitation to her wedding, without informing Donna. Needless to say Donna is rather taken aback to see the three faces from her past. Does she know which one is Sophie's father? And will finding out change her life?
I was unsure about watching this film - I like old-fashioned musicals, but I wasn't sure what this would be like, particularly with a slew of well-known and respected actors suddenly turning into singers. However, rave reviews piqued my interest and as a child of the seventies/eighties I've always had a soft spot for Abba. And despite some reservations, I did enjoy the film - it is so cheesy and high-spirited that you would need to be quite a bit more cynical than me not to like it even just a little bit.
I was quite surprised at the choice of Meryl Streep as Donna - I see her very much as a serious actress with an amazing ability to portray pain. However, she clearly had a total ball in the role. There were times when she made me cringe - but you can't help but when someone is having a normal conversation and then suddenly
bursts into song. And she has a surprisingly strong voice that carried the songs she sang well. As the slightly scatter-brained Donna, this is not a role that was ever going to be hard for her, but I really do think she made the absolute best of it and apart from making a tit of herself every now and again in the spirit of the film, she was great to watch.
Amanda Seyfried who plays Sophie is also good, if not amazing. She is not an actress I have heard of before, but has the presence of a seasoned actress. I did find Sophie incredibly annoying, but then it would be hard to make someone who plans to make her mother such a public spectacle at her wedding anything else. She definitely has a great voice and knocked spots of her fellow actors for that, if not for her character. Far more entertaining are Julie Walters and Christine Baranski as Donna's friends. I particularly liked Christine Baranski, just because I felt that Julie Walters played her usual dippy comedy role, whereas Baranski seemed like a breath of fresh air and had such massive energy.
The three men are played by Pierce Brosnan, Stellan Skarsgard and Colin Firth. All are more than adequate at their roles. Brosnan plays his usual suave role, which suited the film perfectly even if it wasn't exactly original. Firth is an ex-headbanger turned posh git, again, something he is very familiar with. However, he did throw himself wholeheartedly into the role and was obviously quite happy to be laughed at. Skarsgard is the most non-descript of the three and perhaps has the smallest role, but still fits well into the film.
The singing is obviously an integral part of the film, with characters bursting into song at every available moment - it has to be said that the way Abba's songs are made to fit in with the story is really clever. Singing skills are varied, but generally good. There is the odd dud performance though; namely Pierce Brosnan. It is not so much that he can't sing, because he was actually fairly in tune, it was just that he looked completely out of his league and this made me feel uncomfortable watching him. I don't think it was all that important because the others more than made up for this, but it's a shame he couldn't have looked a little bit more like he was enjoying himself! The range of music is, obviously, fantastic, with most of Abba's big hits appearing at one time or another, as well as a couple that I wasn't familiar with, but are bona fide Abba songs, if not as popular as the others. Ultimately it is the music that makes this film. If it wasn't for the familiar songs, I wouldn't have been half as entertained. And if you hate Abba, then you wouldn't be going to watch the film in the first place, would you?
The setting is just beautiful. It was filmed on location in Greece and it is all blue skies, clear sea and white buildings - totally stunning. I was reminded of a fantastic holiday on Crete when I was young, and I'm sure the area will become even more popular as a tourist destination because of this film. What did surprise me was that the inside shots were actually filmed at Pinewood Studios in the UK - I had presumed it was an American production and would therefore have been filmed in the US. Good to see Pinewood being used for such a popular film!
This is a feel-good film that will appeal most to women. My friend's husband and son went to see it and were horrified to find themselves in a packed cinema where they were the only men-only group there. I'm sure they joined in a bit though, although they wouldn't admit it! It is cheesy to the extreme and not being very romantic myself, there were times when I found it so cringe-worthy I could barely watch. But there is also a good dollop of humour involved and it is generally hard to take any of it too seriously. There were times when I felt it was way too theatrical, that perhaps the transition from theatre stage to film hadn't worked all that well, but in retrospect, I think this was probably intentional. And ultimately, there is so much advertising about the film that if you went and were disappointed, it is probably your own fault for not heeding the hype.
On the whole, I did really enjoy the film. I sang along at the top of my voice, like most people in the audience, and danced too, albeit in my seat. It has that sort of atmosphere that makes you want to participate, even though you know it is nothing but fluff really. If you are looking for some light-hearted entertainment this summer and you're female, you'll almost certainly enjoy this, but I think men will be less inclined to see it, just because it's not cool rather than they won't enjoy it. And this is definitely a film I recommend you see on the big screen - I don't think it will be half as effective on DVD. Recommended.
The DVD is not yet available, so I have no idea of prices.
Classification: PG
Running time: 108 minutes
How helpful would this review be to a person making a buying decision? Rating guidelines
Music / Performing Arts, Comedy - Director: Trevor Nunn, Geoffrey Posner - Original Language: English - Classification: 15 years and over, Parental Guidance - Starring: Duncan Preston, Celia Imrie, Julie Walters, Victoria Wood, Jim Broadbent
Great review - although I still have no idea what they were thinking in casting Brosnan!!! He was terrible x
stephy666 31.08.2008 22:51
I loved going to see this, made a great girly night out. Not convinced it did the stage version justice so i'd sooner see it on stage again but great review
avacarrdo 27.08.2008 14:14
I enjoyed this, but it's far from the best big-screen adaptation of a musical I've seen.
The delirious sight of Meryl Streep leading a river of multigenerational women singing ... more
"Dancing Queen" is one of the high points ofMamma Mia!, the musical built around the songs of the hugely popular pop group ABBA. The plot sets in motion when Sophie ...
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The delirious sight of Meryl Streep leading a river of multigenerational women singing ... more
"Dancing Queen" is one of the high points ofMamma Mia!, the musical built around the songs of the hugely popular pop group ABBA. The plot sets in motion when Sophie ...
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Advantages: Funny, warm, great cast, great songs, a real feel-good film that will make you smile Disadvantages: Very slightly inferior to the stage version
KarenUK 21.07.2008 (21.07.2008)
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful
Review of Mamma Mia!
Advantages: A film that is suitable for young and old alike, that everyone can sing along to! Disadvantages: The main plot device may need a bit of explaining to younger children.
LAURALILIA 15.01.2009 ·
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Review of Mamma Mia!
Advantages: Funny, warm, great cast, great songs, a real feel-good film that will make you smile Disadvantages: Very slightly inferior to the stage version
KarenUK 21.07.2008 (21.07.2008)
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Review of Mamma Mia!
Advantages: Good songs, some of the cast are having fun Disadvantages: Poor singing; invisible choreography; badly written script; miscast actors; you want more?
Seresecros 01.09.2008 (01.09.2008)
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Review of Mamma Mia!
![Mamma Mia! [DVD] [2008]](http://picnicb.ciao.com/uk/81500191.jpg "Mamma Mia! [DVD] [2008]")
Aug 11th, 2008
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