Meryl's Waterloo

Rating: 1/10 (29 December 2008)

I liked ABBA in the '70s.
I saw "Mamma Mia" on stage in Vegas, and loved it.
Then I saw "Mamma Mia" the movie.
Oh dear!
I've never agreed with the notion of bringing in big-name stars to create a film version of an already popular musical, but in the past, when a few of those big-name movie stars couldn't sing, the directors (and I would assume the non-singing stars who didn't want to embarrass themselves) had the sense to bring in the Marni Nixons, Bill Lees, Margery McKays, Giorgio Tozzis, etc. to dub the sound tracks.
No such luck with "Momma Mia."
Dominic Cooper is good as "Sky," and Amanda Seyfried is more than good as Sophie, but the rest of the cast is too old and can't carry a tune in the buckets it looks like they are about to kick.
In the 2000s, "Duets," "Chicago," and "Moulin Rouge" were pleasant big-name star surprises.
What happened with "Momma Mia"? Could they not find Marni Nixon's phone number?