Mamma Mia!

Mamma Mia will doubtless be much maligned by critics and viewers alike. Its premise is paper thin without any danger of cutting even the most superficial of surfaces. The barely adapted screenplay of the lucrative stage show is almost insulting in its lack of any meaningful storyline.

 

The narrative, for lack of a lesser term, is propelled by Sophie (played with literally wide-eyed enthusiasm by Amanda Seyfried) and her search for her father as prompted by her impending nuptials to Sky (Dominic Cooper, reliably cast once again as the lustful object of others affections, as last seen in The History Boys, Sense & Sensibility, and I can only assume in the upcoming The Duchess).

 

Sophie’s mother, Donna (played with accomplished abandon by Meryl Streep), has hitherto refrained from disclosing the identity of Sophie’s father. The opening number, “Honey, Honey” neatly explains that this may well be because there are three potential genetic donors. As Christine Baranski and Julie Waters as Meryl’s delightful support scold: “Donna, you shady lady!”

 

Enter three blasts from Donna’s shady past: Harry (Colin Firth), Bill (Stellan Skarsgård) and Sam (Pierce Brosnan). As far as mistakes go, a girl could do worse than that trio.

 

The plot, if you will, proceeds toward the inevitable identification of which of these three likely lads is now the proud father of beautiful Sophie.

 

Is it Harry the British Banker?

 

Is it Bill the Swedish adventurer?

 

Or is it Sam, the wretch that first broke Donna’s heart, now a successful architect?

 

Does it matter? Of course not – songs will be sung with gusty mediocrity, dances will be danced without convincing or inspired choreography, and all the named characters will be paired off as assuredly as the best of ABBA Gold will compose the majority of the Mamma Mia soundtrack.

 

The singing is, for the most part, tolerable. Meryl can hold a tune and the lady certainly knows it. Amanda has a sweet, clear voice  - a small mercy given she and Meryl are called upon to carry the cast through most of the numbers. Christine belts out her tunes with Broadway bravado while Julie provides adequate back-up. Dominic has a voice that would serve any boyband in a pinch. There is a hesitancy to Colin’s solo performance that I accredit (perhaps generously) to his character. Stellan’s spoken word contributions are charmingly self-effacing. Which leaves us with Pierce… who is, in all honesty, quite terrible. So bad one wonders how he was cast. Surely a sound test in lieu of the traditional screen test is in order when casting a musical (where one mistakenly assumes there is an emphasis on the music).

 

The only redeeming moment of Pierce’s aural assault is when the camera pans to Stellan during “When All Is Said and Done” and his is a face of unadulterated distaste – no acting required, in fact I don’t think he is acting, it is fair to assume that was Stellan’s unscripted reaction to Pierce’s unfortunate “singing”.

 

Yet for everything this film lacks and the many ways it fails to transcend its theatrical beginnings to forge its own filmic identity – it is great fun. Stellan and Colin are raucously funny, or at least my reaction was that of manic, uncontrollable laughter to one particularly homosocial scene.

 

My very early Oscar prediction (and accordingly Golden Globe) is that Meryl will get a nod for her performance as Donna. A further prediction is that the clip selected come award night will be Meryl singing “Winner Takes It All”. The song is ill suited to the progression of the plot (should you squint your eyes and glimpse one) but showcases just how powerful song can be when wielded by an accomplished actor to convey everything that character is feeling. Thankfully, that song is a solo with Pierce called upon to do nothing more than look handsome in a suit (a quite nice grey suit as it happens) and provide a focus for Meryl’s performance.

 

My enjoyment of this film is quite possibly disproportionate to what it offers – it is unsophisticated in its direction, it lacks any kind of irony or awareness of its preposterous propositions, it is unremarkable in nearly every notable way. But if you find yourself in the mood for something that is simply fun, Mamma Mia! is just the ticket.

 

PM: 6.5/10

 

Mamma Mia! (2008 d. Phyllida Lloyd)