Take a trip down the aisle you'll never forget! MAMMA MIA!

Mamma Mia! (2008) Directed by Phyllida Lloyd.

Harry Bright: Is your father here?
Sophie: You tell me.

This delightful musical based on the music of 70's super group ABBA (Anni-Frid Lyngstad, Benny Andersson, Björn Ulvaeus, and Agnetha Fältskog) details the story of the wedding of Sophie Sheridan (Amanda Seyfried) to her true love Sky (Dominic Cooper) a local boy from the Greek Isle where she grew up.

Sophie wants a storybook white wedding; complete with her father walking her down the aisle.  There is just one problem: Sophie's mom Donna (Meryl Streep) was a single mother, and has always been rather vague on the matter of Sophie's father.  Now, Sophie has discovered her mother's diary and learned the truth; her Mom is not withholding information, she doesn't know.  There are three candidates, and Sophie has invited all three to her wedding, all unbeknownst to her mother.

Um, yes, you see the recipe for disaster.

Sophie is attended by her two oldest friends Ali (Ashley Lilley), and Lisa (Rachel McDowall).  Donna is attended by hers as well, the members of her old ABBA coverband, Donna and the Dynamos.  The Dynamos are Rosie (Julie Walters) and Tanya (Christine Baranski).  Rosie is a down to earth spinster, Tanya, a thrice divorced sex pot still bubbling.

Sophie is convinced that she will know her dad the second she sets eyes on him.  However, this is not the case, and she now has a problem, how to figure out which one is her dad while hiding them from her mother.

Donna has made a happy life for herself running a ramshackle old hotel, trying to stay ahead of the decay, and failing.  None the less, she is living her dream.  This dream was shared with her by the first of the fathers, Sam Carmichael (Pierce Brosnan) who abandoned Donna to return home to his fiancé.  Donna consoled herself with Harry Bright (Colin Firth) with whom she shared a passion for music, and then with Bill Anderson, (Stellan Skarsgård) a free spirited tattooed writer.  Each of them was gone from her life before she knew she was pregnant.

Now, as she is preparing for her only child's wedding, Donna stumbles on the three old flames where Sophie has hidden them, and there is a delightful flurry of emotions and evasions as the boys try to keep Sophie's secret (They think they are just here as Donna's old friends) and Sophie tries to figure out which one of them was her actual sire.

All the while, the music of ABBA fills the storyline, the songs carefully fitted into the storyline.  ABBA's music does lend itself to this sort of thing...it starts off as a conversation, and works toward the chorus.  It is almost like they planned it.  Certainly they made it easier for the writers than did the Beatles for Across the Universe.

The energy and enthusiasm inherit in ABBA's music is used to great effect by the actors.  Donna is a vibrant, energetic woman, not above bouncing on the bed.  Her cronies Rosie and Tanya are equally ebullient.  And the men are not any more subdued, though they are less effusive, not being amongst friends, though they quickly do form bonds of their own.

The structure of the story takes a lot from the Greek, not only the setting in a small Greek town on a lovely island, but also the use of strophe and antistrophe (the movement of the dancers to the right, then back to the left, using the exact same steps) the use of a chorus of the common people, costuming that speaks to mood, and the use of masks and phallic symbols (power drill, Tanya's use of the floral display)  All are elements of classic Greek comedies.

The real quest here is Sophie's and no where is it stated better than in a conversation with her intended.

Sophie: I wanted to get married knowing who I am.
Sky: You don't find that from finding your father, Sophie, you find it by finding yourself.

And, happily (predictably) true love wins out.  The wedding is wonderfully disjointed, and a true delight.  Love wins out in the end, as it should.  I personally was particularly happy with Harry's story, and his romance, though I must admit, Rosie won my heart while singing "Chicacita".

Musicals are light and fun by nature.  This one does not disappoint.  The wonderful light and energy of ABBA's music plays into the story and creates a flawless vehicle.  All in all, a total delight.

And on a happy little note, while ABBA had nothing to do with the production of the stage play, the male members, Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus, both have cameos in the film, Benny is playing piano, and Björn plays a Greek god at the end.  A nice little homage.

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