A disappointment; poor execution ruined it's potential

Rating: 3/10 (9 August 2008)

I was expecting a cute-if cheesy-musical film that would be fun to see with my mom. I can't believe how wrong I was. I know that this was adapted from a Broadway musical, but I don't think the filmmakers took into account the differences in the mediums. All of the over-the- top acting and humor works in a theatre setting because it's more difficult to portray emotions subtly to an audience who can't get a close up shot of the actors. The filmmakers should have toned it down in order to make the movie fun and not tacky.
The premise by itself is a cute idea, but the characters aren't well developed, and therefore I couldn't care less about what happens to them. The husband-to-be is a character that is especially lacking, and any "argument" the couple has is transparent. The same can be said of the 3 potential father's, whose entire background is revealed via montage and a song.
Unfortunately, this was obviously a lame vehicle for ABBA songs over a good story because the songs used were interchangeable (mostly generic love songs, recalling past romance), some were put in unnecessarily (entire scenes just for one song unrelated to the major plot), and they simply went on for too long. Also, most of the songs were introduced too abruptly, making the term "break out into song" quite literal, with blasting background music on the very first note. I prefer it when the song progresses a bit more naturally into the story.
However, the major downfall of this film was the fact that the songs did very little to advance the plot. I understand that relying exclusively on preexisting songs can be a hurdle, but when you look at a work like Moulin Rouge, you can't make too many excuses for this film.