Will Certainly Appeal To Dancing Queens

Rating: 6/10 (7 July 2013)

I put off seeing this film simply because ... well it's MAMMA MIA isn't it ? A musical based on the stage play and centered around the music of Swedish legends Abba a band I'm old enough to remember and a pop group still held in high regard by heterosexual women and gay men of a certain age but I certainly was never a fan and it was the main selling point of the film . You can point out that it contains some cinematic star power big hitters but if the same cast appeared in a film with the song and dance numbers provided by The Beta Band would it have the same box office appeal ?
Talking of box office in 2013 it still remains the 75th highest grossing film unadjusted for inflation . I'm guessing much of the world box office is down to the nations of Sweden and Britain making a big contribution to the film's profits ? That said despite never making number one at the US box office it did remain in the top 10 weekly box office for two months . It seems to have been a film that captured the hearts of the international market . Maybe it does have something going for it after all and I was being prejudiced ?
Any prejudice is quickly met . It is very camp kitsch guilty pleasure material . No attempt is made to portray Greek Islands with any reality , no attempt is made to make MAMMA MIA the greatest film since CITIZEN KANE . Everything is constructed around the show stopping song and dance numbers and after a while even a hetrosexist male who can remember these songs almost gets caught up in the sway of things . It's camp nonsense of course but relatively enjoyable camp nonsense , a sort of low brow Derek Jarman does MGM musical . That's entertainment ? Yes to a degree . It's not a film that will be remembered with any great affection by the critics but does what it sets out to do relatively well