We had to go to this one soon after its release. We had already seen the Broadway touring company in Toronto and then with four of our granddaughters in New York a couple of years ago. It was a feel-good Broadway musical and it is a feel-good movie as well. It will be even more memorable if you either are already familiar with the music of ABBA (guilty), or if you download or buy the CD of the original music and play it loudly a few times before the movie. Most know by now that this musical was written around the varied songs of the mostly Swedish (OK, one Norwegian) 1970s hit rock group. Now it takes considerable talent to forge a believable story around the catalog of the Best of ABBA. So it still takes some talent to tell the story of Mamma Mia even if you have to suspend your pragmatism a bit to stretch the believability factor. After all, it is a musical, and how believable is it that people sing to each other in the streets? It is also a stretch to say that Pierce Brosnan is an accomplished singer, but he does reasonably well for a shower singer.
But never mind all that -- it is a delightful story and even knowing the ending, it is fun to watch as Meryl Streep and cast break into song. You will smile at how the familiar ABBA songs are made to fit the situation; some quite well.
This is not Academy Award material but I doubt it ever set out to be. It is not meant to be deep; it is meant to be a love story, or many love stories as it turns out.
My only complaint was that I thought that the part of Sky was miscast. I can't put my finger on it but there are others out there who could have carried this better than Dominic Cooper. I had
the same feelings early in the movie about Christine Baranski, but she won me over with her hard work and panache. The supporting ensemble cast did a fine job as well but I had the feeling that most of their hard work was on the cutting room floor to make the movie fit the time allowed.
the same feelings early in the movie about Christine Baranski, but she won me over with her hard work and panache. The supporting ensemble cast did a fine job as well but I had the feeling that most of their hard work was on the cutting room floor to make the movie fit the time allowed. Have fun going to this one, and take your ABBA CD along to play in the car on the return home so you can sing in full voice to "Dancing Queen".
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