Extended family of imperfect individuals gathers, each damn colorful, each with an ambivalent relationship to the deceased. Squabbles, laughs, tears ensue. Hasn't happened to me, either, but the idealized power of family to find strength in adversity is an irresistible theme, dream, and movie plot. What slays them in the second balcony, though, flattens on the screen. And in the center square, Whoopi Goldberg fans herself as widow and matriarch.
Somebody say mamma mia.
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