Mamma Mia Review

Mamma Mia is not a very good movie — but that doesn't mean you still can't have any fun.

In fact, just "having fun" appears to be the whole premise around which this feature-film adaptation of the Broadway show full of ABBA tunes is built.

The story is paper thin — a young American girl (Amanda Seyfried) invites three men (Pierce Brosnan, Colin Firth and Stellan Skarsgard) who were involved with her mother (Meryl Streep) around the same time to her wedding in Greece in hopes of finding out which one of them is her father — and really just a vehicle for the characters to sing ABBA's greatest hits.

I can't pretend I'm a huge ABBA fan. My knowledge of their music is pretty much relegated to "Dancing Queen" and "Take a Chance on Me." Still, there's no denying the relentless energy and catchiness of their tunes and I can see why the stage show has been a huge worldwide hit.

Unfortunately, that doesn't make for a completely smooth transition to film. Neither is the guiding hand of first-time feature director Phyllida Lloyd, who also directed the show on stage.

Too often, the songs appear to pop up and start up out of nowhere. It felt more like, "Hmm, it's been a few minutes since we've had a song, and this one kinda fits," as opposed to letting things happen organically. Worse, there were WAY too many instances in which the songs failed to advance the action at all, and simply served as a showcase for shiny costumes and choreography.

Then again, it was probably the promise of shiny costumes and choreography (as well as a few weeks in that fantastic Grecian scenery) that lured such a talented cast to this project. (The fact that our packed theatre didn't have air conditioning made me feel like I was in Greece with them.)

I think Seyfried ("Mean Girls") is the real find from this cast. She has a strong and lovely singing voice (her opening renditions of "I Have a Dream" and "Honey, Honey" are strong, and she kept her character likable, where she could've easily ventured into whiny territory.

I actually enjoyed the scenes Brosnan, Firth and Skarsgard had with each other a lot more than their scenes with Seyfried or Streep. None of them could really sing that well (especially Brosnan), but I always love to watch actors give it a shot anyway, and the charm and good nature in their performances more than made up for it. (And make sure you stick around for the end credits to catch some more of these guys.)

Meryl Streep established a long time ago that she could pretty much do whatever she wanted, but her performance was a mixed bag for me. Sure, it's a kick to see the Serious, Respected Actress cut loose and sing (very well) and dance to her heart's content and she DOES bring an unexpected emotional depth to a few scenes (a few with her daughter and her performance of "The Winner Takes It All"). But I was surprised at how much I didn't really care for her character Donna and, especially, her relationship with Brosnan and the men.

Or maybe it was because the movie was stolen by Christine Baranski and Julie Walters right out from under her. Baranski and Walters play Tanya and Rosie, Donna's bawdy friends and easily score the film's biggest laughs.

The trio teams up for the film's highlight, a rendition of "Dancing Queen" involving an entire Greek isle. Meanwhile, my two favorite numbers were Baranski's "Does Your Mother Know" and the comedic sequence which accompanied Walters singing "Take a Chance on Me." Unfortunately, those latter two numbers didn't really have anything to do with the movie's main storyline, but were entertaining nonetheless.

It's hard for me to recommend you see a movie that frankly isn't very good. I don't really see this one playing very well on DVD at all, so if you're going to see it, I suggest you see it in theatres with a big group of people — pretty much the way it's been playing ever since the show opened.

It'll be more fun that way.

Mamma Mia...C+