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Title: Mamma Mia!
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Parents, though there is some innuendo's this is an otherwise clean film. Recommended for ages 10 and up. |
Based off a popular Broadway show that was based on the extensive catalog of ABBA songs, “Mamma Mia!” is an uneven mix that has the potential to be either pure cotton candy or worse than Chinese water torture. What camp you find yourself in will likely depend much on your tolerance of ABBA music. Having not seen the Broadway musical I can only judge the material in the movie. From what I’ve learned from watching one too many musicals, this one came close to being the best musical in the last five years, but given the choice I’d recommend dusting off last years “Hairspray” and re-watching that instead.
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The story: A young girl is going to be getting married in a few days but has never met her father before. After reading her mothers diary she invites the three potential men to her wedding, hoping that she will be able to figure out who her real father is just by looking at him. When the men arrive she can’t decide which of them is her father. I confess that I couldn’t guess either: She’s a blond while the men are all bruennettes. The potential fathers are Bill, Harry, and Sam. The mother is Donna (played wonderfully by a still sexy Meryle Strepp), who is none too happy to see these three men back in her house (particuraly Sam).
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Judging by how much/little screen time the men get you’d think placing a bet on who the biological father is would be easy, but this movie is determined to make the owner of the winning sperm irrellivent (“Swing Vote” would pull a similar stunt later that year). Oh yeah, and somewhere in this mess the characters sing, dance, and breath ABBA music. Much like last years Beatles musical “Across The Universe,” this movie makes extensive use of ABBA’s music catalog and manages to take a lot of random singles (many of them number one hits) and uses them to help pull forward a single narrative. And this isn’t nearly as distracting as you’d think it is.
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Maybe it’s because ABBA songs aren’t as iconic as The Beatles songs, but many of the songs seem strung together without any disjoint or choppiness. I wish the same could be said about the performances themselves. This is where the movie yanked me around like I hadn’t been yanked all year round. The performers are a mixed bag. Meryle Strepp, Amanda Seyfried, and Colin Firth range from excellent to decent. Meanwhile actors like blank and Pierce Bronson sing so terribly they make their scenes unintentionally funny. The choreography is also a mixed bag. While some of the musical numbers are staged decently, the movie never rises to the level of last years “Hairspray” or “Enchanted.”
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Frankly, most of it doesn’t even rise to the level of “Xanadu.” But did I enjoy it? Well…ultimately, I guess I did. I enjoyed the quirckiness of it, but I think the overall package is lacking. Frankly, the soundtrack to this movie makes the movie sound better then it is. I also want to point out a grave story annoyance I had. Spoiler Alert: One of the characters that is supposed to get married has a change of heart on the marriage idea, and decides she wants to travel the world with her boyfriend before they get married. Maybe someone can suggest that these two loves birds travel the world as part of their hoonymoon instead? Nevermind, I forgot we live in the year 2008; most people don’t commit to marriage anymore.
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