Review of “Mamma Mia!”

Even were it not the title of one of Swedish pop group ABBA’s most beloved songs, Mamma Mia! might just be the most aptly-titled movie of the year.

Because my Mom is gonna loooooooove it.

A frothy, breezy confection of a movie musical, Mamma Mia! looks, sounds, and feels like summer. Shot on location in sun-soaked Greece amidst iridescent coastal waters, pristine beaches and a forest of tanned young limbs, the movie is the equivalent of a “Having a Wonderful Time, Wish You Were Here …” postcard as delivered by a chorus of screaming singing telegrams.

The plot itself is as thin as the gauzy fabrics favored by the cast: on the eve of her wedding, young Sophie (Amanda Seyfried) reads her mother’s diary in order to learn the identity of her father. When she finds three men who could potentially be pops, she mails invites to all three in her mother’s name. When all three actually arrive on the tiny Greek island where Sophie and her mother, Donna (Meryl Streep), run a ramshackle inn, she does her best to hide the suitors but eventually the secret is out and the game becomes trying to figure out which one might be her dad.

From left to right: Stellan Skarsgård,
Pierce Brosnan, Colin Firth, Amanda Seyfried

The men are three distinct types. Rich but rugged Swede Bill (Stellan Skarsgård) is an adventurer who doesn’t want to be tied down. Laced-up Brit Harry (Colin Firth) is a proper shadow of the wild man he used to be. And nice-guy millionaire Sam (Pierce Brosnan) is clearly still in love with Donna, further complicating the situation.

Of course, amidst all the intrigue there’s still a wedding to pull off, and Sophie’s fiancée Sky (the adorable Dominic Cooper) and Donna’s best buds Rosie (Julie Walters) and Tanya (Christine Baranski) also get pulled into the chaos.

Dominic Cooper

As you can imagine, a wacky comedy about mystery paternity set to the songs of ABBA isn’t really anything to be taken too seriously. And director Phyllida Lloyd is wise to let a somewhat casual, devil-may-care vibe suffuse the proceedings. You won’t find any razor-sharp choreography, pitch-perfect singing, or stunning production numbers in Mamma Mia!, so if you’re looking for another Dreamgirls or Chicago, you’re out of luck. The whole mood is much more whimsical, casual, and wistful, which may do well to pull in musical-averse audiences who aren’t keen on the trappings of the classics. Mamma feels more like a backyard talent show than a Broadway blockbuster.

From left to right: Christine Baranski, Meryl Streep, Julie Walters

Of course, this more casual feel does take its toll on a few key elements, and most of those elements involve singing. Okay, I won’t beat around the bush here and just say point-blank that Pierce Brosnan’s walrus warble very nearly ruins the movie entirely.

Brosnan (left) and Streep

He tries. He really, really does. And thankfully he only has a few numbers to carry, but boy does he drag them through the mud in the process. While the less-than-polished voices of some of the other castmembers may make the film more accessible to some viewers, his voice may have audiences jamming popcorn in their ears.