Mama Mia makes noise, not sense.

Rating: Null/10 (27 August 2008)

First of all anyone who says this basic plot wasn't stolen from "Buena Ser, Mrs. Campbell" is nuts. The real difference is that the 60s movie with Gina Lollbrigida was hilarious and well- plotted and this Abba dabba doo film is a mess. Despite a wonderful cast, notably Meryl Streep, the story is completely implausible from the Greek Isle setting to the arrival of the three possible fathers, to the fact that no song has anything to do with the plot (or what there is of it). This is not a musical, but a music video with every song pretty much the same, which is fine if there were no pretense at having a story and real characters. The good news is that it shows us how deeply talented, Streep,Julie Walters, and Christine Baransky are. The bad news is that the three male leads fared less well and everybody looked old, tired and unmade up. One wonders if the misdirected director ever helmed another film. This film will probably do very well with millions of unsophisticated moviegoers who will tell you how swell it is. But if you really care about the integrated music, character development and silly little things like logic, you'll probably find yourself saying, "Mama Mia, who thinks this is a good movie?" Plus how can you possible love a character (the adorable lead) who reads someone else's diary. That already makes them despicable.