Mixed feelings

Rating: Null/10 (23 July 2008)

As everybody knows, "Mama Mia!" the movie got there through two stages, first as ABBA's songs, then as the musical stringing some twenty of those song together with a story. To the audience familiar with one or both, this familiarity cuts both ways. On the one hand, they would have an innate liking for the movie. But then the expectations may be unduly high. I have mixed feeling after seeing the movie.
Inasmuch as I like many of ABBA's songs, I'm a long way from being ABBA's fan as I would be The Beatles (it's, like, you know, a generation thing). This way, I am less demanding and easily enjoy the toe-tapping numbers as well as the more lyrical songs, as long as they are reasonably delivered. I am therefore quite happy with the movie in this regard.
What a movie can do that a stage musical can't is obvious. On stage, performance of every song is confined to the acting area while the use of monatges in a movie has unlimited possibilities. In this movie, unfortunately, utilization of this advantage has gone a little overboard. There is too much "business" (borrowing a term often used in staging a light opera such as those of Gilbert and Sullivan) and they distract from the beauty of the song. If you have seen the movie, think about "Take a chance on me" and you'll know what I mean.
As far as I can tell (it's quite a while ago when I saw the musical), the movie has all the songs in the musical, but I have one complaint. In the musical, one of the most beautiful ABBA song, "Thank you for the music", is beautifully placed, enhancing a scene in which Sophie gets to know one of the prospective fathers better (I'm not sure which one now). In the movie, they cut out the scene and put the song in the ending credit as background. Well, that's better than not having it at all but I would love to SEE Amanda Seyfried sing it. Five point deducted! What the movie can do though is show the idyllic Greek paradise, particularly the island where the wedding take place. Quite a few point gained back here.
Big cast notwithstanding, the focal point of the story is Sophie, and this role is well casted with Amanda Seyfried, bathing the audience in the glow of her wholesome sweetness. And you can't get any better with Stellan Skarsgard, Pierce Brosnan and Colin Firth as the three prospective fathers. Playing Donna's two sidekicks, Julie Walters and Christine Baranski are great too. One critic suggests that this movie is quite clearly Meryl Streep's worst performance of her career. I agree, but I think he purposefully left out the accompanying line in his review. Let me finish it for him. At her career's worst in this movie, Streep is better than anybody else that they can cast for this role.