Mamma Mia! The Movie (2008); musical comedy film review

Poster artwork for the musical comedy  film Mamma Mia! The Movie.

Dancing Disco Divas by Linh
Based on the stage musical, Mamma Mia! is brought to the silver screen with a stellar cast including Meryl Streep, Pierce Brosnan and Colin Firth. Producer of the stage version, Judy Craymer and director Phyllida Lloyd have remained loyal to Catherine Johnson's script, transposing the hit musical from stage to screen.

With the blessings of ABBA band members Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus, who were also the executive producers alongside Hollywood super couple Tom Hanks and Rita Wilson, more than twenty ABBA songs are performed and woven into the narrative.
In the simplistic plot, Sophie Sheridan is about to get married and lives on a beautiful Greek island with her mother, Donna, who runs a crumbling hotel. Sophie has never known her father and dreams of finding him to walk her down the aisle. She finds her mother's diary and invites three candidates who might be father to attend the wedding, without telling her mother.

Triple-Oscar winner Meryl Streep is definitely the stand out performer amongst a talented ensemble cast. Having sung in numerous stage and screen productions, the role of Donna seems to be a vocal fit for the likeable Streep. Even doing the splits mid-air while singing and bouncing about on a bed comes naturally to her. Streep has a powerful vocal delivery and is sensational in her dance sequences. Her highlight is the emotionally gut-wrenching The Winner Takes It All, but other solos of note include Money, Money, Money and Mamma Mia.

Amanda Seyfried, of Mean Girls fame, stars as the wide-eyed and sweet-voiced Sophie, who is engaging and shines with humour in her lead vocals for Honey, Honey, moving and melodic in I Have A Dream and in romantic mode for her duet with Dominic Cooper, Lay All Your Love On Me.

British actress Julie Walters is Rosie, the comical and supportive writer friend of Donna's, who is also a member of the girl power band Donna and the Dynamos. Walters delivers here harmony parts in Chiquitita, Dancing Queen and Super Trouper with aplomb. Her duet with Stellan Skarsgård, Take A Chance on Me is an absolute hoot.

Christine Baranski is the bold and brassy socialite, Tanya, who is also a member of Donna and the Dynamos, with a huge sexual appetite for younger men. She is hilarious in her duet with young suitor, Philip Michael, with Does Your Mother Know?, and provides brilliant harmonies in Gimme, Gimme, Gimme (A Man After Midnight)and I Do, I Do, I Do.

Although the male cast for Mamma Mia! looks stylish, their vocal prowess lacks the intensity and energy compared to the ladies. Pierce Brosnan plays the architect, Sam Carmichael, whose heart still burns for Donna after twenty years apart. Brosnan adds the same suave and smoothness to Sam as he does for James Bond, but his singing is a little rough around the edges. Despite this, Brosnan is capable of carrying a tune (you could even hear his Irish accent while he sings) and he gives his all in S.O.S and Our Last Summer.

Everyone's favourite Mr Darcy, Colin Firth, is amazing as the former rebel rocker turned corporate banker, Harry 'Headbanger' Bright. Firth is the strongest vocally and musically of the male leads, even playing his guitar during Our Last Summer. He lends his talented vocals in harmony for Gimme, Gimme, Gimme (A Man After Midnight) and Voulez-Vous.

Other notable performances come courtesy of Stellan Skarsgård as Bill Anderson, Sophie's third possible father and travel writer whose care-free spirit and larrikin humour provide comic relief; Dominic Copper as Sophie's fiance, Sky, has barely enough screen time, yet he is competent as singer and dancer; and the actors who play the hotel staff and also double as chorus singers and backing dancers throughout were excellent.

Eagle-eyed audiences would be able to spot ABBA members Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus in cameo roles during the middle and the end of the film. Stay around for a special encore performance from the entire cast, that's ABBA-solutely fABBA-ulous.
It's a nostalgic dance down the 1970s dicso memory lane, with sequins, skin tight spandex and silver-soled platform boots. Whether or not you've seen the stage musical, it won't affect your enjoyment of the sparkling and exhilarating spectacle of Mamma Mia! The Movie.

TRIPLE THREAT: Rosie (Julie Walters), Donna (Meryl Streep) and Tanya (Christine Baranski) reminisce about the days of young love on the eve of Sophie's wedding in a scene from Mamma Mia!. Image: Universal Pictures.

Director: Phyllida Lloyd

Writer: Catherine Johnson (screenplay and stage musical)

Cast: Meryl Streep, Amanda Seyfried, Pierce Brosnan, Colin Firth, Stellan Skarsgård, Julie Walters, Christine Baranski, Dominic Cooper, Juan Pablo Di Pace, Rachel McDowall, Philip Michael, Norma Atallah, Chris Jarvis, Ashley Lilley, Colin Davis, Heather Emmanuel, Nancy Baldwin

Producers: Benny Andersson, Björn Ulvaeus, Judy Craymer, Tom Hanks, Rita Wilson, Gary Goetzman, Mark Huffam

Cinematographer: Haris Zambarloukos (Director of Photography)

Original Music Composers: Benny Andersson, Björn Ulvaeus, ABBA

Film Editor: Lesley Walker

Production: Maria Djurkovic (Production Designer), Rebecca Holmes, Nick Palmer, Dean Clegg (Art Directors), Barbara Herman-Skelding (Set Decorator)

Costume Designer: Ann Roth

Running Time: 1 hour and 50 minutes