Mamma Mia!
Movie details
Academy Award winner Meryl Streep leads the cast of 'Mamma Mia!', the screen version of the worldwide stage musical phenomenon featuring the songs of ABBA.
Streep stars as Donna, the mother to Sophie, who's on a quest to discover the identity of her father on the eve of her wedding. Three men from Donna's past return to the paradise they last visited 20 years ago, resulting in a trip down the aisle no one will ever forget.
Director Phyllida Lloyd
Stars Meryl Streep, Pierce Brosnan, Colin Firth
Mild sexual references and coarse language
Our review
In 1978 ABBA-mania was it its peak.
The Swedish fab four were on the brink of world domination, and Australia was arguably their biggest audience with an estimated one in five Aussie households owning an ABBA album at that time. So it's likely that Aussie audiences are going to flock to "Mamma Mia" the new ABBA-inspired movie.
Based on the hit West End musical of the same name, "Mamma Mia" tells the story of Sophie (Amanda Seyfried), a twenty year old bride-to-be who helps mum Donna (Meryl Streep) run a ramshackle bed and breakfast on a Greek island.
With no dad on the scene, Sophie does some digging into her mum's past and unearths some likely candidates who she promptly invites to her impending nuptials. And that's when the fun really begins.
The likely dads - Sam (Pierce Brosnan), Harry (Colin Firth) and Bill (Stellan Skarsgard) bond as the wedding edges closer, with all of them realising they may have a daughter.
Ok, so it's not the most scintillating of storylines, but it was created for the musical, simply to weave in the magical ABBA songs which are peppered through this movie, and which brings the entire Greek island - including the locals- to life.
The soundtrack, and the clever way that ABBA classics have been adapted to make this movie work is outstanding and will have your toes tapping from the opening scenes.
Admittedly, some of the singing is average - Pierce Brosnan in particular shouldn't look to join a boy band any time soon - but Meryl Streep seemed to give it her all while having a ball.
Julie Walters and Christine Baranski have strong supporting roles as Donna's best friends, and offer great comedic value. And keen ABBA fans should keep an eye out for cameo appearances from band members Benny Anderson and Bjorn Ulvus.
Good movies should keep you entertained. Great musical movies should have you leaving the cinema wanting to dance and sing. I did both.
9/10
Claire Gould
In compiling yourTime content, HWW relies upon information supplied by a number of sources. yourTime content is supplied on the basis that while HWW believes that all the information in it will be correct at time of publishing, it does not warrant its accuracy or completeness.
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