Mamma Mia

By Adam Weeks

Probably the first thing I should get out of the way here is to explain a couple of things – I’ve never been a “fan” of the music of ABBA as such – meaning I’ve never set out to desperately find that Vinyl edition of “Arrival”, but I’m not exactly changing the radio station when one of their tracks comes on either. I think like most people, I could tell you the age of the titular “Dancing Queen”, I know that there was something in the air that night for “Fernando” and if I had had a reasonable dose of Tequila, I could probably even belt out a dose of “Waterloo”. But there is no denying that even 26 years after they broke up, ABBA are just as big as ever.

This brings me to point Numero Dos – if you are one of those people that think “Mamma Mia” is about the career(s) of the various members of the band (and over the last few weeks I’ve discovered a lot of people who do), then this is not the movie for you – unfortunately the Agnetha, Björn, Benny & Anni-Frid story will have to wait for another day – “Mamma Mia” is of course based on the incredibly successful stage musical which premiered in London back in 1999 , and was itself based on the 1968 film “Buona Sera, Mrs. Campbell”.

“Mamma Mia” is the story of the about-to-be-married Sophie (Amanda Seyfried) & her mother Donna (Meryl Streep), who both run a hotel in the Greek islands, with help from Sophie’s fiancée Sky (Dominic Cooper). Alongside her two Aunts, Rosie (Julie Walters) & Tanya (Christine Baranski), Sophie has also invited the three men from her Mother’s diary that may or may not be her Dad – Sam (Pierce Brosnan), Harry (Colin Firth) & Bill (Stellan Skarsgård), and she has to find out which one of them is the real deal so that they can walk her down the aisle…..

At this point I should also take the time to remind you, or let you know for the first time that “Mamma Mia” is in fact a Musical – don’t say I didn’t warn you, I am telling you this now so when you sit next to me in a theatre, you don’t turn to me and say “Gosh, there’s a lot of bloody singing, isn’t there?”, like people have done in “Dreamgirls”, “Chicago”, “Hairspray” etc. (all true stories).

Again, if you are walking into “Mamma Mia” not realizing that it is a musical, you have either lived under a rock for the last 9 years, or have never read a newspaper, watched television or heard anyone speak about it any point in the past. On the other hand, you may also be 9 years old, which means that this is also probably not the movie for you, and the latest “Hannah Montana” DVD may be what you’re looking for.

Now, that out of the way, I can very easily tell you that I absolutely loved “Mamma Mia” – loved everything about it, loved every song, loved the Actors, loved the scenery – loved the feeling of it all. “Mamma Mia” is in fact the best movie I have seen this year – mainly because it’s just such a damn fun time watching it, especially with a clapping & cheering audience around you. As with the stage show, the music of ABBA is adapted to the storyline – “Money, Money, Money” centers on Donna repairing various parts of the hotel & signing bills for the wedding; “Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! (A Man After Midnight)” is sung during the Hen’s night, etc. – and as a whole it works as well as it does due to the energy of the main and supporting cast, and the strength of the singing voices.

Meryl Streep & Amanda Seyfried in particular sound incredible – Meryl standing out in particular on tracks like “Mamma Mia” & her duet with Brosnan on “S.O.S.”, whereas Amanda sounds amazing in songs including “I Have A Dream” & “Lay All Your Love On Me” – but that’s not to say the other cast is lacking – Pierce Brosnan, Colin Firth, Christine Baranski, Julie Walters, Dominic Cooper all come shining through – I suspect that perhaps not quite so strong in the vocals is Skarsgård, who probably has the least amount of singing in the film, but proves to be one of the best performances simply due to his charm (though perhaps his biggest musical moment will be a deleted scene on the DVD – “The Name Of The Game” a duet with Amanda). On top of all of that, there’s a few cameos in there that will also make ABBA fans particularly happy…….

If this review sounds like a love letter to “Mamma Mia”, it’s because it is – I can’t remember the last time I was in a movie where the audience were clapping, cheering & singing along during the whole film – when an audience stays through the entire closing credits and then gives it a standing ovation – it’s something special, and that’s the way to best describe “Mamma Mia” – something special.