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Mamma Mia!
Jun. 4th, 2018 06:06 pmI first saw Mamma Mia! in theaters when it came out, and then again a few years later, and yet again last weekend, and in between I also caught the stage show; in short I am immensely fond of it, even though the plot is balderdash and Donna (Meryl Streep) ends up with the most annoying of her three former lovers, who is played by Pierce Brosnan, who can’t even sing.
In fact none of the men sing very well, but Brosnan is the one who gets a lengthy and emotionally fraught duet with Streep, so it matters more with him. Why didn’t they get actors who can sing for a musical? A musical that is little more than an excuse to string a bunch of ABBA songs together, no less? (The plot is indeed balderdash but honestly given that origin, it’s impressive that it hangs together at all.)
But nonetheless - it’s just so cheerful and happy and fun! I love the bright colors and the pouring sunshine and and the Greek island setting, and scads of female friendship all over the place: both Donna and her daughter Sophie have two best friends, amd Sophie has scads of other friends who all show up for her wedding to create Bollywood-worthy crowds of backup dancers.
(Where on earth did Sophie meet all these girls while growing up in a crumbling hotel on an isolated island? Maybe they’re all former guests who just loved her so much that they had to come back for her wedding. Amanda Seyfried plays Sophie with such verve and panache that I would believe it. Sophie sets the plot into motion and keeps it moving with a series of decisions that are at best spectacularly thoughtless, and yet it’s impossible to be mad at her.)
There’s a sequel coming out this summer, about which I am very curious if not necessarily optimistic: the magic of the first one is so very much not about what one might traditionally call quality that I’m no sure they’ll be able to capture it again, especially with a new director at the helm. But who knows! I’ll have to check it out and see.
In fact none of the men sing very well, but Brosnan is the one who gets a lengthy and emotionally fraught duet with Streep, so it matters more with him. Why didn’t they get actors who can sing for a musical? A musical that is little more than an excuse to string a bunch of ABBA songs together, no less? (The plot is indeed balderdash but honestly given that origin, it’s impressive that it hangs together at all.)
But nonetheless - it’s just so cheerful and happy and fun! I love the bright colors and the pouring sunshine and and the Greek island setting, and scads of female friendship all over the place: both Donna and her daughter Sophie have two best friends, amd Sophie has scads of other friends who all show up for her wedding to create Bollywood-worthy crowds of backup dancers.
(Where on earth did Sophie meet all these girls while growing up in a crumbling hotel on an isolated island? Maybe they’re all former guests who just loved her so much that they had to come back for her wedding. Amanda Seyfried plays Sophie with such verve and panache that I would believe it. Sophie sets the plot into motion and keeps it moving with a series of decisions that are at best spectacularly thoughtless, and yet it’s impossible to be mad at her.)
There’s a sequel coming out this summer, about which I am very curious if not necessarily optimistic: the magic of the first one is so very much not about what one might traditionally call quality that I’m no sure they’ll be able to capture it again, especially with a new director at the helm. But who knows! I’ll have to check it out and see.
