Mama Mia: a Glorious Mess

Rating: 7/10 (15 October 2008)

The movie version of Mama Mia is almost but not quite a disaster. Despite a cast that was mostly nearly a generation too old, couldn't sing, and couldn't dance, the film mostly succeeded. The brilliant Meryl Streep was a lot of fun and could sing better than adequately, despite her nearly 60 years. The lovely Amanda Seyfreid was young enough and could sing, too. Also Christine Baranski proved that she is as funny as ever and has a nice singing voice.
On to the not so good stuff. Although tasked with important songs, Pierce Brosnan was not up to that task. The guy just can't sing. Oddly, Colin Firth, who had much less to do musically was pretty good. The dancing was awful. It looked like what a group of friends at a bowling alley might try to do after 3 or 4 beers.
Despite its shortcomings, Mama Mia is a lot of fun and its wonderful old Abba songs were often moving, thanks to a strong screenplay. Seeing the movie made me regret than I didn't have a chance to see the 2001 Broadway production.