My review (some of my comments may be considered spoilers)

Rating: 10/10 (1 August 2008)

I never got to see the play when it was in town, but I'm glad the director (Phyllida Lloyd) of the original Broadway production also directed the movie version...makes me feel like the project hasn't lost anything in the stage-to-film translation. It definitely is a "feel good" movie, as most early reviews said it was... and how could it not be? It's set on a beautiful Greek island, it has a fun story, and it gives us established actors who show us their light and sometimes silly side... and they're good sports enough to do their own singing, even though most of them are not seasoned vocalists. But the musical numbers (all ABBA songs, mostly hits with a few lesser known selections) work, because they help to move the story along, and, except for the ballads, they are so energetic and fun that you'll practically dance in your seat to the familiar tunes. If there's one number that encapsulates the "feel good" spirit of this movie, it's "Dancing Queen", a scene which starts in a hotel room in which two friends (Christine Baranski, Julie Walters) are trying to cheer up a third (Meryl Streep), and ends with the three friends -- and seemingly every female inhabitant of the island -- singing and dancing toward the water. Some of my other favorite upbeat numbers are "Lay All Your Love On Me" in which the young couple who are about to get married (Amanda Seyfried, Dominic Cooper) playfully sing to each other on a secluded beach; "Does Your Mother Know", performed by Baranski, as she discourages the advances of a young man who won't take no for an answer; and "Money Money Money", in which Streep's character imagines life "in the rich man's world". "SOS" and "The Winner Takes It All" are not exactly upbeat, but are worked nicely into the story, sung by people who are trying to figure out how they can deal with feelings they have for each other, feelings they thought they had put to rest 20 years earlier. If this movie doesn't remind you how much you enjoyed ABBA music, nothing will!