Mamma Mia!

Rating: 10/10 (1 August 2008)

The world's biggest stage musical became a major motion picture produced by Tom Hanks. It was released July 18, and features the songs of ABBA. The plot is thin yet relevant to the songs. Sophie is getting married and wants to know who her father is. She gets into her mother's diary and narrows it down to three men. She invites all three to the Greek island where the wedding is taking place. Sophie's mother is played by Meryl Streep. Streep never quite got over Sam who is played by Pierce Brosnan. The singing is adequate. Mamma Mia! is ultimately another excuse for reviving the ABBA catalog. The reason the soundtrack is so good is that Benny Andersson used the original musicians who played with ABBA: Lasse Wellander and Rutgar Gunnarsson.