Four out of
Five stars
Running time:
108 mins
Hugely enjoyable musical with gorgeous location work, terrific songs and superb performances from a fabulous cast.
What's it all about?
Based on the smash hit stage musical, Mamma Mia brilliantly weaves around 20 Abba songs into the story of Sophie (Amanda Seyfried), a young bride-to-be who invites her three possible fathers - adventurer Bill (Stellan Skarsgard), banker Harry (Colin Firth) and businessman Sam (Pierce Brosnan) - to her Greek island home for her wedding, unbeknownst to her mother, Donna (Meryl Streep), the woman who broke all three of their hearts 20 years previously.
Sophie always assumed that she'd know immediately who her father was when she saw him, but when the three men actually show up she's even more confused – and she still hasn't broken the news to her fiance, Sky (Dominic Cooper). Meanwhile, when Donna discovers the men have arrived, she's plunged into a wave of conflicting emotions and confesses to her two best friends (Julie Walters and Christine Baranski – both wonderful) that she doesn't actually know who Sophie's father is.
The Good
The cast are terrific, throwing themselves whole-heartedly into their roles and gamely doing all their own singing. Streep is fabulous as Donna and Brosnan, Firth and Skarsgard are perfectly cast as the three different men, even if their singing isn't quite up to Streep's standard (Brosnan, in particular, just belts his songs out as if he's singing karaoke in a particularly rowdy bar).
However, the real surprise is Seyfried (Mean Girls), who's sensational as Sophie and really carries the film. In addition, she has genuine chemistry with Cooper and also has a terrific singing voice (stick around for her version of Thank You For The Music, sung over the end credits).
The Great
It's fair to say that if you hate musicals (or Abba), then Mamma Mia is definitely not for you. However, if you're a fan of the stage show, then you won't be disappointed.
Worth seeing?
Mamma Mia is a hugely enjoyable feel-good musical that will have you grinning from ear to ear and singing Abba songs all the way home. Highly recommended.