Mamma Mia: Oh, my!

Mamma Mia! sings not as a movie but as a light vacation from The Dark Knight. At a time when the box-office is dominated by male-targeted films, Mamma Mia! offers a breath of fresh air. Opening the very same weekend as The Dark Knight, it exceeded expectations with a $27.7 million domestic gross from audience members perhaps less-interested in the intensity of the new Batman. Outdrawing last summer’s Hairspray of the same genre, the movie’s first-weekend haul is number one for musicals and ably contributed to the box-office’s best weekend ever.

Breaking records in its own right, this summer’s musical fun will have you dancing at times but puzzling at others. Staying true to the ABBA-ridden, feisty play of the seventies, Mamma Mia! does have all the catchy songs, playful tunes, and sassy scandals you might remember. In order to fit all of those trademark Mamma Mia! moments in, however, some story coherency was sacrificed. Because of this, the film occasionally turns from a happy musical to a shocking thriller, complete with sneak-attack dance scenes and sudden bursts of song that will both startle and bewilder you.

All of that confusion is forgotten, though, when the irresistible “Mamma Mia!” refrain comes around. The credible nostalgia to the songs of old saves this movie from certain doom. (Perhaps, too, does the draw of the “who’s the daddy?” game: is it the adventurous Bill (Stellan Skarsgard)? The dreamy Sam (Pierce Brosnan)? Or the charming Harry (Colin Firth)? No one seems to remember!) Albeit jarring, the transitions from dialogue to lyric come as much-appreciated gifts, for they promise another enjoyable scene to keep your attention and enthusiasm high.

Mamma Mia! is choppy, yes, but it’s a sort of quantum progression that keeps the musical moving. Far from The Dark Knight’s perpetual climax—yet still not following the conventional model of rising action—Mamma Mia! jumps straight from slump to elation. If you’re up for the bumpy ride, the waves can be pretty enjoyable. (Not to mention that those waves are off the beautiful coast of Greece, where the movie was filmed.)

Mamma Mia! is, in a word, amusing. The story will entertain you with all its mischievous melodrama and those catchy melodies will certainly weasel their ways into your head. (Don’t think you can escape the dancing queen.) Meryl Streep as mother Donna is excellent, of course, fake laughter or not. She and her daughter, Sophie, played by Amanda Seyfried, will quickly capture your hearts and make the touchingly archetypal mother-daughter moments all the more tender.

Between these two, six best friends, a husband-to-be, his bachelor buddies, and three father-could-bes, the only thing Mamma Mia! is missing is a partridge in a pair tree. There’s certainly enough to keep you occupied, especially if you count their alternate singing voices (or, as I like to them, the “other cast”). Feel free to join in, because there’s a high likelihood the sound from your mouth is better than the abomination from former-Bond Brosnan’s.

And so, Mamma Mia! will sure give you some good grins and giggles. It’s just a shame when you have to witness great actors brought down to the lip-synching level. But, I guess even Hollywood stars have bills to pay.

~ by Cody Lee on July 29, 2008.