Meryl Streep leads the "Dancing Queen" in Mamma Mia
My my, how can I resist ya?
Ah, the movie musical. The perfect movie genre for a musical-loving fan such as myself. Even the worse of movie plots can become somewhat enjoyable if you throw in a couple moderately catchy songs (ahem, From Justin to Kelly… yeah I said it. You know you enjoyed it too). I saw the stage version of Mamma Mia several years ago, and even though it wasn’t one of my favorite musicals, I was still so excited to learn that it would become a movie: with Meryl Streep, no less.
Needless to say, I’ve been anticipating this movie for awhile. And even though it too wasn’t the best movie musical I’ve seen (it’s hard to top the thrill I experienced last summer seeing Hairspray), it still somehow did not disappoint. I laughed a lot, I was touched at parts, and I bit my tongue to keep from singing along in a crowded movie theater… what more can I ask for from a summer musical?
The strength of the movie is, of course, those wonderful ABBA songs. Sadly, I’m young enough that my first major exposure to ABBA songs was actually from 90s teen ABBA cover group A*Teens. Yet still I can appreciate their significance and the enjoyment they’ve brought to generations of fans. They fit well in the context of the film’s plot.
Of course, these songs would not be enjoyable if the actors couldn’t sing, a risk when hiring a roster of actors well known for their acting but not their singing. For the most part, the casting people did a great job. I had no idea that on top of all her other talent, Meryl Streep could belt like that. She also managed to not lose an ounce of her acting ability while singing – as “The Winner Takes it All” most strongly shows. That emotion. The beauty. The voice! That woman deserves every one of those Oscar noms.
Amanda Seyfried was an amazing find on the casting director’s part as well. They could have easily hired a Duff sister or some other young actress more well known for acting and singing, but Amanda – it turns out – has an amazing voice and is a great actress as well (though I will always quote Mean Girls to myself when I see her – “Karen, you can’t just ask people why they’re right” “It’s like I have ESPN or something” “She asked me how to spell orange.”) Amanda brought a sweetness, earnestness and fiestiness to Sophie that made it obvious why the sexy Dominic Cooper was marrying her and why her three potential Dads were so quickly captivated by her charm.
I also loved Colin Firth as one of the dads (I’ll see him in anything) and Julie Walters and Christine Baranski as Meryl’s fabulous BFFs. Christine’s “Does Your Mother Know” was a lot of fun and reminded me of a retro beach movie. The bartender she was directing her question at was adorable!
The obvious casting faux paux, however, was Pierce Brosnan. The casting directors were clearly only seeing the potential eye candy when they offered Pierce the role. And while he did bring the eye candy and a solid acting performance, the vocals were just… bad. You know something is wrong when the entire theater audience starts laughing every time he attempts to sing. Now I know why the clip he brought with him to all his talk show appearances, from “S.O.S.,” featured 80 % Meryl singing. Come on. They couldn’t hire, IDK, Richard Gere or something? John Travolta?
Anyway, looking at other aspects of the film: The plot was a little uneven, but that’s to be expected in a musical where the main goal is to get as many songs in as possible. It brought many laughs and was so happy and campy that I couldn’t be bothered by any of it. I was a little bothered by the sound quality, but it may have been the fault of my theaters rather than the movie. I also felt that the choreography could have been better – or at least, more. I loved Dancing Queen and the choreography that was there wasn’t necessarily bad, but some of the other songs seemed like they could have benefited from a bit more choreography, a la Hairspray (or even High School Musical). It gave the movie a borderline low budget feel.
The setting, however, was perfect. Any movie set in Greece is OK with me (Half the reason I’m anticipating next month’s Sisterhood 2 as much as I am) and this one is no exception. Those gorgeous waters served as the perfect background to the glow of the movie, and even the aging hotel the characters lived in was incredibly appealing.
I walked out of the theater with a smile on my face (helped somewhat by the hilarious closing credits), and that’s really all I want out of my summer movies (which is probably why I didn’t enjoy Wanted as much as I had hoped – but more on that later).
Trailer Watch: Most were ho-hum, but I was happy to see the preview for The House Bunny, which looks hilarious with the completely underrated Anna Feris. A nice surprise was Bottle Shock: Alan Rickman? Freddy Rodriquez? Chris Pine? I’m so there.
