Fun! Fun! Fun!

Rating: 8/10 (9 October 2008)

I have a difficult time imagining anyone not being uplifted by this movie, if only for the music. I was 17 yrs old when "Dancing Queen" was popular on the radio, so of course, this movie would appeal to me. But my daughters (ages 20, 16 and 14) all enjoyed it as well. Even my husband, who really isn't a fan of musicals, didn't complain about this film (I dragged him to it on our anniversary - the film's opening day).
I get a kick out of all the people that come on this board to bash this movie when clearly they don't like musicals by their own admission. That would be like me critiquing a horror film - I despise horror films so it would be hard for me to find anything redeeming about one. So why people insist on seeing a film in a genre that they knowingly do not like or appreciate, and then proceed to criticize it, is beyond me! Anyway, regarding the movie - Here's the good: 1) The location and cinematography - absolutely breathtaking! It makes a person want to seriously consider Greece as their next vacation destination. I'm sure the Board of Tourism in Greece couldn't be happier with this film. 2) Singing talent - while many have roundly criticized the choices for the leads in this film, I find the fact that Meryl Streep and Pierce Brosnan and a few others aren't trained singers rather endearing. In fact, I found Meryl Streep's rendition of "Slipping Through My Fingers" more emotional than any stage version I've seen and even the original song. And to improve upon Agnetha Faltskog's voice/version is a tall order indeed! The young actor/singer who plays Sophie (Amanda Seyfried) is beautiful and has a lovely, angelic voice. Visually, she is a believable casting choice to play Meryl Streep's daughter and I thought they had good on-screen mother-daughter chemistry. 3) The Plot - Yes, it's thin and silly and frothy, but that's what makes it so fun! I mean, think about it. Any time you watch a musical, you have to suspend disbelief. When in real life does anyone ever belt out a song and dance in the middle of a conversation (with backup singers to boot)? And besides, who amongst any of this film's viewers doesn't know and understand the fact that this plot was created from stringing a number of unrelated ABBA tunes together? Since the process of matching music to the plot is reversed from the normal way, I'm amazed that they were able to create as cohesive a story as they did. 4) The dancing bachelor party boys - Yea! the film left the flipper-flaunting boys (from the stage version) in the scene for "Lay All Your Love on Me". I looked around the theater when the boys first appeared and I couldn't find a single person who was not laughing or at least grinning from ear to ear!
With the good, comes the bad - 1) While overall I think Meryl Streep did a wonderful job, her rendition of "The Winner Takes It All" (the other tear-jerker song in this movie) will never allow me to listen to that song in quite the same way. Vocally, she was decent, but I'll forever be haunted by the odd hand gestures she made while singing it. The lyrics describing the breakup/betrayal are so powerful that perhaps closeups of Meryl's and Pierce's faces would have served that scene better than Meryl's over-emoting with her hands. I found the original video for the song on YouTube. In that video, the pain and anguish of the song were so beautifully conveyed by Agnetha Faltskog in just her eyes and facial expressions - no awkward hand gestures needed! 2) While I applaud the inclusion of Pierce Brosnan in this film (it never hurts to have an attractive man on the screen), perhaps the roles for Colin Firth and Pierce Brosnan could have been reversed. Pierce Brosnan's voice is clearly not awful or even cringe-inducing, but it's not a particularly strong voice, and as such is not really strong enough to carry the two songs ("SOS" and "When All is Said and Done") that the role required. I could definitely have seen Pierce Brosnan singing "Our Last Summer" instead.
To sum it up, if you like the music of ABBA and enjoy exuberant celebrations of life without the need to over-analyze every detail, then you'll enjoy this movie! If not, then choose a different movie.
Not since Grease have I seen a musical that's as much fun to watch as it must have been to make!