Utterly joyous

Rating: 10/10 (10 July 2008)

I like, but don't love, musicals - my DVD shelves contain a selection, but the stuff there is pretty obvious: Singing in the Rain, King and I, Wizard of Oz, Moulin Rouge etc.. I'm not a Meryl Streep fan - I admire her craft, but mostly haven't liked the parts she's played. Conversely, I've always liked Abba's music. So that's my starting point when considering this movie which I have just been to see with my 80-year old mother.
The story is a piece of fluff. Sophie, who lives with her mother in a dilapidated hotel on an idyllic Greek island, wants nothing more than for her father to be at her forthcoming wedding. The trouble is her father could be any one of three men with whom her mother dot dot dotted twenty years ago. So Sophie invites all three of them to her wedding and, as expected, complications ensue. The story, such as it is, is quite strong enough to enable the songs to be hooked onto it. And the songs, with one or two obvious exceptions (Money Money Money cued by the rundown state of the hotel) are very cannily worked into the story so that each one is relevant.
The film looks great. The Greek locations overflow with sun and primary colours. The script is mostly fairly deft, and there is a sprinkling of decent laughs.
But the film ultimately stands or falls - and it stands, believe me! - on two things: the music, and the cast.
The music - sitting through this film brings home the strength of the Abba catalogue. There isn't a weak song among the two dozen which feature on the soundtrack. The music, produced by composer Benny Andersson, mostly wisely sticks very close to the original arrangements, and the occasional divergences (Greek bouzouki on I Had A Dream, for instance) are spot on.
And the cast - well, they deliver. Brosnan's singing has been criticised, but he is always in tune, and he delivers a satisfactory vocal performance rather than dazzling with a polished singing technique (which he hasn't got). The four leading women are all wonderful. Julie Walters and Christine Baranski as Meryl Streep's two oldest friends are both very funny (Julie Walters has a particularly funny little bit of business in a rubber boat), and Baranski has her own knockout number. Amanda Seyfried as Sophie is simply delightful - she sings well, carries the plot and all the emotion which goes with it, and is very easy on the eye. And Meryl Streep is a revelation.
This film is an utterly joyous experience. My old Mum and I came out of the cinema buoyed up by the experience of watching it, and I cannot recommend it highly enough to anyone who enjoys musicals and/or Abba's music.