Mamma Mia! The Movie (Full Screen)
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DVD Cover Information
Actor: Amanda Seyfried, Colin Firth, Meryl Streep, Pierce Brosnan, Stellan SkarsgardBrand: STREEP,MERYL
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Subtitled); French (Subtitled); Spanish (Subtitled); English (Original Language); French (Dubbed); Spanish (Dubbed)
Format: AC-3, Color, Dolby, Dubbed, NTSC, Subtitled
Picture Format: 1.33:1
Running Time: 108 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2008-12-16
Audience Rating: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Studio: Universal Studios
Movie Reviews of Mamma Mia! The Movie (Full Screen)
Movie Review: Songs In the Key of Life
Summary: 5 Stars
"Mamma Mia,"a new romantic musical comedy of a film, arrives, bringing joy to many. It is based on the stage play of the same name that was a major international hit, and, ultimately, on the internationally popular music, largely disco-style, of the 1970's Swedish group ABBA. The film, which I'd have to guess mainly appeals to women, older women at that, is a product of women to some degree: written by Catherine Johnson, directed by Phyllida Lloyd. And, as you might expect, it generally has not been popular with mainstream critics, particularly the male ones.
The film is lovely to look at: it's set, as was the stage play, on one of those picturesque Greek islands; and the breathtaking exteriors were filmed on one of them. Interiors, however, and the major setting, Villa Donna, the small resort owned by the major character, Donna Sheridan (Meryl Streep), supposedly on that Greek island, were filmed at Pinewood Studios, England. Some critics have complained about the cinematography, but really, who can carp when it's showing such lovely views? I also found it slightly too long; there was a hard-to-believe moment when I was a little tired of big, pull out all the stops, production numbers.
The plot's simple enough, even silly, and downright illogical and unscientific. Donna, who was a tribute performer back in her day - and ABBA's --largely doing their material, it appears, would be the first to tell you, as she labors in her only moderately successful little resort, that she's a reformed slut. Her daughter, Sophie Sheridan (Amanda Seyfried), has, accordingly, never known her father. And Sophie's getting married now to Sky (Dominic Cooper); she wants her father to give her away. So she finds Mom's old diary, identifies the three most likely candidates, and sends them invites: apparently Donna was prescient enough to identify them in her diary not only by their full names, but by what would be their addresses twenty years later. (Pity she didn't identify them by their DNA at the same time; her daughter would have been spared so much uncertainty.) The three men show up: Sam Carmichael (Pierce Brosnan, former James Bond); Harry Bright (the dishy Colin Firth), and Bill Anderson (Stellan Skarsgard, generally considered to be a serious actor, and a good one.) Just to add to the fun, Donna's former singing partners show up too: Tanya (Christine Baranski, an American musical comedy and television performer) and Rosie (Julie Walters, a respected serious British actress). Two of daughter Sophie's friends show up too, the movie's crazy for triads.
Well, these performers have to sing, of course, those ABBA songs. It was obviously no problem for Streep; she appears to be having a great time of it. But then, she's that phenomenon that famed Broadway guru Hal Prince once highly praised, an actress that can sing: and I've seen her sing previously in Postcards from the Edge, and A Prairie Home Companion, among other films. Critics have complained that her "Winner Takes It All" is over baked; if they'd seen the stage show, as I have, they'd know that song functions as what Broadway calls "the 11 o'clock number." That is, the song, near the end of the show that producers rely on to send the audience out humming, and recommending the entertainment to their friends. It's supposed to be powerfully presented, guys. Major complaints about Brosnan's voice, too: we can all agree he'll never be invited to the Metropolitan Opera, but, still, his voice is perfectly adequate to the task. However, the critics have praised Walters' closing number, delivered as the mythical ancient "Fountain of Aphrodite," which Donna's inn is supposedly built over, explodes during a minor earthquake. Walters has a get up on the table, knock `em dead, shake your money maker classic here; and she deserves every syllable of praise she gets.
Basically, despite the attractive and talented young leads, the show functions as an evocative middle-aged romance, of which the media give us too few. This one is really meant for people who were around at the time, dancing to ABBA; something for the girls, in particular: that would be the older girls now. I've seen a TV documentary on ABBA, and all four of the quartet agreed: even while they were recording "Dancing Queen," they knew it would be a monster hit. And it was, and it is still. My favorite scene: as the entire island apparently breaks into that song, a Greek farm woman, no longer young, carrying a heavy load of kindling on her head, thinks about it, decides there's time enough to carry kindling, sets it down and joins the dance. Fellas: throughout life, most women are carrying heavy loads of kindling: and we enjoy the chance to set them down and dance. As various people have said, life is short and death is long: and you'd better dance while you can, little man. Little woman, too. In fact, I've said it before and I'll say it again, Gloria Gaynor's monster, international disco hit, "I Will Survive," functions as an anthem to current day women, well beyond the English-speaking world. And any English-speaking woman who claims not to know it is a liar.
To be sure, rock critics of the day always hated disco, and you still see the odd bumper sticker, "Disco Sucks." Why ever? Well, having the biggest "cojones" was important to those largely male critics, and disco was loved, heavens, by gays. And women, and quite ordinary people, who liked to dance. And the songs said nothing whatever about the state of the world, or Euclidean geometry. Seems to me many of today's movie critics hearken back to these guys. However, very recently, I saw a newspaper article that said medical men had found that people delivering CPR (Cardio pulmonary resuscitation) to people with failing hearts were most successful doing it to the Bee Gees' seminal disco tune "Staying Alive." It helped the rescuers even to be thinking the tune, or singing it to themselves, because, you see, the song has slightly more than 100 beats a minute, and so has the heart. The medical men didn't know the reason, but I do. Because I once saw a documentary about the Australian group, the Bee Gees, generally considered the fathers of disco, who said that they took that beat from the Australian aborigines. That song, folks, is in the key of life.
Summary of Mamma Mia! The Movie (Full Screen)
Genre: Comedy
Rating: PG13
Release Date: 16-DEC-2008
Media Type: DVD
The delirious sight of Meryl Streep leading a river of multigenerational women singing "Dancing Queen" is one of the high points of Mamma Mia!, the musical built around the songs of the hugely popular pop group ABBA. The plot sets in motion when Sophie (Amanda Seyfried, Mean Girls), daughter of Donna (Streep), sends a letter to three men, inviting them to her wedding--because after reading her mother's diary, she suspects that one of them is her father. When all three arrive at the Greek island where Donna runs a hotel, Donna flips out and finds that passions she thought she'd laid aside are coming back to life. But let's face it, the plot is not the point--it's a ridiculous contrivance that provides an excuse for the characters to sing the massive hits of ABBA. Regrettably, first-time film director Phyllida Lloyd (who directed the original stage production) has drawn over-the-top performances from everyone involved, even Streep; every production number hammers its exuberance into your eyeballs. Which is too bad, because Mamma Mia! is a rarity: A middle-aged love story. The kids start things off, but the story is really about Streep and the three guys (former James Bond Pierce Brosnan, former Mr. Darcy Colin Firth, and Swedish star Stellan Skarsgard), as well as Donna's best friends (Christine Baranski, best known from the TV show Cybill, and Julie Walters, Calendar Girls). It's a romantic comedy aimed at the people who were around when all these songs were new, and that's an age group Hollywood largely ignores. For that alone, Mamma Mia! deserves to find an audience. --Bret Fetzer
Stills from Mamma Mia! (Click for larger image)
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