I’m taking cookiemaven’s lead and reviewing another, very, very different movie...
Before I went to Mamma Mia!, I heard that it simply didn’t live up to expectations. I also heard that I would be dancing in the aisle. I didn’t believe either claim. A life long lover of musical movies, I had my doubts. So why did I fork over the ten dollars to go? Well, simply because it was ABBA and Meryl Streep. How could I not go? So I went in expecting some camp, catchy numbers and a plot that existed merely to fit the music. And I got so much more than that.
Quick Plot Summary (no big spoilers, I promise):
Mamma Mia! is about a girl who’s getting married on a beautiful island to a beautiful guy. Already, this movie has me. Her mother, Donna, (Meryl Streep) is the film’s other leading lady, is flanked by her sisters who have personalities just as large as hers. The twist comes when Sophie invites her three possible fathers to her wedding, unbeknownst to her mother, in the hopes of being walked down the aisle by her true father. The three possible candidates (Colin Firth, Pierce Brosnan and Stellan Skarsgard) have no idea that Sophie, not Donna, invited them, nor do they have any inkling that she could be their daughter.
Making a musical (especially one which has been such a hit on stage) into a movie is difficult. You have to stay true to the essence of the play but make it into something of its own as well. Nonetheless it remains a musical. Mamma Mia! is corny and very clichéd at times. It’s a true musical complete with cheesy dance moves and spontaneous bursts into song. The entire picture had a depth and energy that surprised and impressed me. The colors, the songs, are all bright, somehow managing not to become offensive. The songs by ABBA and the inspiration of the play, have, of course, been stuck in my head since the moment I walked out of the theater. Actually… at this moment I have the soundtrack playing.
And what about the characters? Mamma Mia! really has two stories. There is the story of Sophie; her love and her quest to find her father. And there is the story of Donna, of her past and present, of what was and what is becoming. Mamma Mia! may not be a deep movie but it is a good time. And in it’s own way it is moving. More than once, in fact it choked me up and multiple times I looked over to see tears in my mother’s eyes. It’s a mother-daughter movie, a “chick flick”, a musical, a comedy, a love story and a movie about the power of girls and women. The men in this movie, while charming in their own right, are in now as memorable within the story or within my recollection as any of the female characters- from leads to extras. The energy of this movie is incredible. Whether or not you love Meryl Streep or ABBA or musicals in general, you’ll leave with a smile on your face.
Orb28 Rating: Full Moon (That’s four stars, people!)
