Mamma Mia!

Mamma Mia! (Meryl Streep, Pierce Brosnan, Colin Firth, Skellan Skarsgard, Christine Baranski, Julie Walters, Amanda Seyfried) — ABBA scored several Top 40 hits in the U.S. even before its four members, whose names began with A (Anni-Frid), B (Bjorn), B (Benny), and A (Agnetha) could speak any English.  Their early hits were sung from the transliteration of lyrics.  A little disco, very pop, and generally perky, ABBA songs were headed the way of the Bay City Rollers when their founding guys, Bjorn Ulvaeus and Benny Andersson, had the idea of turning many of their songs into a musical with a story about the wedding of a young girl, Sophie (Amanda Seyfried from TV’s Big Love), whose mother told her that her father was long gone when she found out she was pregnant.  Finding mom’s diary from that year, she finds out that her dad could be one of three men.  Unknown to mom, Sophie invites all three to the wedding.  Meryl Streep, who proved she could sing in Prairie Home Companion, clearly has a great time as Donna, the once fun-loving mom.  The definitive actress of her generation, she got in great shape for the movie.  Coupled with her two old girlfriends, played by veterans Christine Baranski and British actress/comedienne Julie Walters, Donna and company carry the bulk of the musical load.  Unfortunately, Pierce Brosnan was brought in for unneeded star power and he struggled to sing and looked uncomfortable doing it.  Colin Firth carries off the singing much better and Skellan Skarsgard (Good Will Hunting and The Hunt for Red October) is surprising as the most adventuresome of the possible biological fathers.  It takes the film a full 45 minutes to hit its stride, indicative of the inexperience of first-time feature director Phyllida Lloyd.  It’s ABBA’s biggest hit, Dancing Queen, that propels the movie for the last fun hour.  Like Chicago (Baranski was in that, too), which brought the movie musical back to life, Mamma Mia! is great entertainment because of the energy of the cast, led by Streep.  This was a huge risk for Queen Meryl (it could have been her Waterloo), and she passed the test.  My only warning is that, if you don’t like ABBA, you are likely not to like the film.