Mamma Mia! is a fun and interesting musical staring Meryl Streep

Mamma Mia! isn’t the typical film that I would find myself watching, but circumstances led to its rental on DVD, and after sitting through the 108 minute musical, I find myself not regretting the decision to watch it.  I am admittedly a closet ABBA fan, and have enjoyed singing along to their songs on the radio when they have come on.  I don’t however, own any ABBA records, and am not entirely familiar with their entire catalog either.  With that in mind, going into a film that was really just an excuse to showcase ABBA music, it didn’t come as a surprise to me when I didn’t recognize all of the songs being used to further the story, but I don’t think that took away from the story.

The story of Mamma Mia! Is that of Sophie Sheridan, who is about to get married, but who doesn’t know the identity of her father.  She has found a journal that her mother kept in the past though, and has been able to deduce that it is one of three men that her mother had spent time with during a summer in Greece.  With that information in hand, Sophie sets about inviting the three men to her wedding, hoping that one of them will be her father and walk her down the aisle to the next chapter in her life.  She does this without letting her mother know what is going on, and the obvious result is a lot of surprise and revelation that comes along later in the film.  When the three men arrive on the Greek island where the ceremony is taking place, hilarity of course ensues, as well as a discovery for both the characters as well as the audience.

The story is really centered around that one central theme, as Sophie tries to figure out which one of the three men is her father.  None of the men is aware that Donna Sheridan (the mother) could have had a child with them, and they are all very oblivious of that fact until later on.  While that unfolds, a mirror story of Sophie and two of her friends as well as Donna and two of her older friends goes through the motions of presenting musical numbers that at times seem forced, but at other times seem quite funny and meaningful.

In the lead role of Sophie is Amanda Seyfried, who many film-goers may recognize as one of the main girls from Mean Girls.  She is very good in the role, and brings not only a great energy to the part, but a nice singing voice that lends itself well to all of the ABBA songs.  Her mother is played by Meryl Streep in what is another good casting choice, but there are some moments where it seems Streep might be too old to play the part.  Discarding that, she is very good in the role, and also lends herself well to the singing parts.  The same cannot be said for the male leads of the film, which are played by Pierce Brosnan, Colin Firth, and Stellan Skarsgard.  None of them is great at singing these songs, and with Brosnan it actually takes away something from the film.

As I had mentioned earlier, Mamma Mia! really is just an excuse to play ABBA music for about two hours while the cast dances, prances, and sings their melodies to extend the story.  Some of the songs seem really forced and out of place, but others really hit it off well, and the title track as well as “You Can Dance” really make the viewing worthwhile.  While the plot really lacks at points, and a lot of the dialogue doesn’t seem to flow within the story, it was worth watching for a few of the musical numbers, and in the end, it was worth it for the two hours of musical entertainment.  It is a three star film (out of 5) that I would watch again on television, and it is good enough to garner my recommendation.