MAMMA MIA!
4 out of 5 stars

CUTE. CUTE. and…CUTE. as a die-hard ABBA fan, of course, i enjoyed singing along to all their hits while the movie played… (i get that from my mother) i’m actually glad i didn’t see this one in the theater because i probably would have gotten kicked out for singing too loudly! :P



i think most people know the story of mamma mia already, as it was a broadway musical first. it’s not an oldie like cats, west side story, or south pacific, but most manhattanites and musical theater aficionados know what it’s about. here’s the gist for those who don’t: donna sheridan (meryl streep- really, hollywood? i felt like they could have gotten a better/more well known singer for this role) lives on a greek island with her daughter sophie (amanda seyfried- very cute), who is about to get married to her BF sky. (dominic cooper- also very cute!) sophie, behind her mother’s back, sends out 3 letters to her potential fathers, whom she invites to the wedding. they are: sam (pierce brosnan- very hot…); bill (stellan skarsgard- he looked like he had a ball filming this one); harry (colin firth- didn’t know he could actually sing LOL) of course, donna ultimately finds out that all three of her past flings are on the island, and seeks comfort from her friends, tanya and rosie. (christine baranski- wouldn’t be a musical without her! and…julie walters AKA mrs. weasley from the harry potter movies? i found out that tidbit thanks to IMDB…)


the best numbers were obviously dancing queen by donna/tanya/rosie, the super trouper performance at sophie’s bachelorette party, the grand voulez-vous dance sequence in the villa, does your mother know beach dance with tanya and the boys, and rosie’s take a chance on me rendition and serenade to bill. of course, keep this in mind: this was no rob marshall’s chicago or hairspray or even tim burton’s sweeney todd. (where the stage-movie transition is seamless) sometimes, it feels as if the actual story/plot of the movie doesn’t fit in with the numbers. (which is inevitable when the songs are written before the play…?) anyway, i could care less about the story. it’s cute, but the true substance are the songs that remind you how a little pop Swedish group called ABBA was #1 back in the day…


so, what are you waiting for? your waterloo? go ahead, and take a chance on this! ;)