Home Video: Mamma Mia!

Mamma Mia
Directed by Phyllida Lloyd
Released July 18, 2008

Musicals can be a lot of fun, and there’s a certain amount of suspension of disbelief expected. “Mamma Mia” takes it way too far. People are dancing on the beach and on bridges like there’s no tomorrow. There’s hardly any story, and it’s merely an excuse to hear some excitingly sung Abba songs. It’s the thinnest premise, really, and I was horrified to discover how little had actually transpired throughout the unbearable length of the movie. When the performers are singing, it seems so clearly lip-synced and not germane for them to suddenly burst into song. The cast is peppered with veteran actresses
(Meryl Streep, Julie Walters, Christine Baranski) and up-and-comers (Amanda Seyfried, Dominic Cooper), as well as an amusing trio of actors (Stellan Skarsgard, Colin Firth, Pierce Brosnan) playing three paternity candidates for Seyfried’s inexplicable father search on the eve of her wedding. Sadly, not one of those people, even the beloved Streep, adds anything to the movie. Hearing Brosnan sing is particularly painful. The stage show might have been fun, but this is just plain ridiculous and insufferable.

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