Sophie (Seyfried) has a dream: to have her father walk her down the aisle at her wedding. However, she doesn't know the identity of her father. Hoping to find out, she reads her mother's diary and learns there are three candidates: Sam (Brosnan), Bill (Skarsgård), and Harry (Firth). Sophie believes she will know her father as soon as she sees him, so she invites all three to visit her mother's hotel in Greece. They don't know why they are being invited (but believe the invitation comes from Sophie's mother), and her mother, Donna (Streep), doesn't know about her three guests. Her fiance, Sky (Cooper) is also left in the dark.
A few days before they wedding all three arrive, and Donna is not pleased. She retreats to the support of her best friends, impulsive writer Rosie (Walters) and wealthy divorcée Tanya (Baranski), while Sophie spends time getting to know the men.
Sam left Donna to marry someone else and she vowed to never speak to him again. He is a successful businessman in New York. Bill was a free spirit (who had an Aunt Sophia, who left her money to Donna), and now travels the world seeking adventures and writing travel guides. Harry was a rocker, but now works as a banker and is never spontaneous.
Meanwhile, Rosie and Tanya remind Donna of the fun they used to have singing together. They plan to keep the three men away from Donna and the wedding. At Sophie's bachlorette party, the night before the wedding, all three men realize why they were invited to Greece and assume they are the father. They all offer to walk Sophie down the aisle, and she still isn't sure who is her father.
I love ABBA! The tunes are infectious and fun... is it possible to be sad while listening to ABBA? I think not. I knew there was a Broadway musical based on ABBA songs, but wasn't particularly interested... and then it became a film. I heard the soundtrack first, and was interested (read: addicted) enough to see (read: buy without seeing) the film (which I saw for the first time a few hours ago). Overall I was impressed.
It is hard to take a show with so much presence / atmosphere and bring that feeling to a film. Apparently this is the kind of show that is excellent live... with a room full of people singing along with the cast, waiting for the encore of ABBA songs not featured in the show. But I think those feelings translated to the film. It is fun, you are sorry to have it end (even with the encore performances during the end credits)... you feel great and ready to go back and rewatch the film with the "sing-a-long" option.
Prior to seeing the film, my biggest concern was the cast. With the exception of Christine Baranski, they do not have musical / theatrical backgrounds... but the majority of the cast rose to the task. Amanda Seyfried is excellent as Sophie, with a strong singing voice (Random trivia: Benny and Bjorn, of ABBA, were so impressed with Amanda they offered to write music for her, if she ever wanted to have a career in music!). Meryl Streep is also noteworthy. We knew she could act, but who knew she could sing too! But Julie Walters steals the show... she is amazing and gets the most laughs (although her partner in crime, Christine Baranski is also a scene stealer).
In my opinion, the only casting misfire was Pierce Brosnan. He tries, but it just doesn't work. His singing is painful, but that isn't the only problem... I never buy him as the character. Stellan Skarsgård and Colin Firth (who I love in pretty much anything) work as their respective characters... but not Brosnan. If it was necessary to secure a big name for the part, there are many other actors (including Broadway vets) who could fill the void. That issue aside, it isn't technically well made (not impressed with some of the camera work / staging)... but you don't dwell on that as soon as the cast belts out the next tune. Worth the price of admission (or in my case, the price of the DVD)!!
Mamma Mia (2008) 108 minutes
Rating: PG-13 for some sex-related comments.
Director: Phyllida Lloyd
Starring: Meryl Streep as Donna Sheridan
Pierce Brosnan as Sam Carmichael
Colin Firth as Harry Bright
Stellan Skarsgård as Bill Anderson
Julie Walters as Rosie
Dominic Cooper as Sky
Amanda Seyfried as Sophie Sheridan
Christine Baranski as Tanya
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