Beaks here...

When Meryl Streep sings, good films tend to happen. Mike Nichols's POSTCARDS FROM THE EDGE is an underrated early 90s flick based on the hard-drugging biography of Princess Leia, DEATH BECOMES HER has its moments, and A PRAIRIE HOME COMPANION is a modest, but strangely perfect swan song for the great Robert Altman. But Meryl singing ABBA... that's going to put this theory to the test. Good thing Amanda Seyfried does an entire number in a swimsuit.

Our frequent contributor "cavepearl" somehow forgot to mention the Seyfried. Is that 'cuz the movie's as unwatchably awful as HAIRSPRAY (says the guy who's always wanted to play Billy Bigelow in CAROUSEL, so don't bring that anti-musical noise here)? Let's read on, reader...

I have a rule about the musicals--unless the music is at least 60% original, I refuse to waste my time. There are exceptions to this rule and one of them is the musical Mamma Mia! When I first heard about a musical based on ABBA tunes being created in London , I was actually kind of excited. I am a closet ABBA fan. I knew at the time of their break-up that the group was actually composing a musical called The Girl with the Golden Hair. They never finished it but it lives on in the cheesy torch number “Thank You for the Music.”

If you have never seen the play, it is fun but you are not really missing that much. It is an amusing lighthearted time but one of the silliest musicals I have ever seen on Broadway. The plot is so thin that I get paper cuts just thinking about it. I was surprised at how easy the lyrics to these Swedish pop songs adapted to a cohesive narrative. It feels like they were always meant to be presented this way. By the end, the audience is on its feet singing along with the cast.

The film is an almost faithful adaptation of the famous West End musical. All the basic elements are there, from the multiple fathers/wedding storyline to the beautiful Greek island location (filmed in Greece and the new Pinewood studios in England ) and plenty of silly dance numbers that move the plot along. Even if you have never seen the play, you will probably like this film, especially if you are a clandestine ABBA fan like me, and if you enjoyed the theatrical production--you will most certainly like this film.

Make no mistake; this is a chick flick to the core. I went to an advance screening last week at a theater in a huge shopping mall in Tyson’s Corner, Virginia . I went with my friend and co-worker, The Naval Fashionista, who had seen Mamma Mia! in Vegas. We arrived just past 6 PM for a 7:30 PM show. There were only about 30 people in front of us, but about 10 minutes later, hundreds of people showed up. They were almost all women and the estrogen was flowing full tilt. Many of them were loudly demonstrating how excited they were. There was not an open seat in the huge stadium theater. Whether you are a guy or a girl however, this is the kind of audience to see this film with. If everyone was just sitting there silently watching, the experience would not have been the same.

As for the cast performances, they range from “okay” to “tremendous” with most in the “good” range. Pierce Brosnan is on the “okay” side. He seems uncomfortable singing on camera. His voice is adequate enough but, mercifully, his solo of “Knowing Me, Know You” was cut from the film. The rest of the cast sings well enough. They are obviously having fun with the material and enjoying the outstanding Greek Isle location.

On the “tremendous” end is Meryl Streep. She sang on camera in the opening number of Death Becomes Her (1992), a campy song played completely for laughs so I knew she would have the chops. Her first two solos in Mia!, “Money, Money, Money” and “Mamma Mia!” are a bit awkward but by her final song “The Winner Takes it All” she is batting 1000%. Producer Benny Anderson from ABBA called her a “miracle” and deservedly so. She sang “Winner” in only one take. Amazing! Streep still reigns as one of the greatest actors alive.

Since this film is light as puff pastry, I don’t want to criticize it too heavily but I did have some issues. The wonderful acoustic version of “Thank You for the Music” from the original production was cut and replaced with the song “One Last Summer.” A version of “Thank You” is included in the credits, but I did not like it as well. I was jarred by this omission because I know the play so well, but first-timers will probably not notice. The choreography is a bit repetitive, mostly people running around acting silly on docks or cliffs. While some of this is true to the stage production, I would have liked to see more structured production numbers. And finally, while the cast is fine for their roles, two of the main characters were white in this film, but were African-American on stage. Anyone who has never seen the play may not care, but it did concern me a little. There is very little diversity in the cast in the musical in the first place, and there are plenty or wonderful singers out there that could have done the job well, so I am not sure why the casting was almost completely whitewashed.

All in all, I had a lot of fun, as did my co-worker. Mamma Mia! is good summer movie fare, but I do not rate it with the enthusiasm I had for the fantastic Hairspray (#2 in my best of 2007) last year. However, it is definitely worth your money and time, especially if you are a woman. For people concerned about children, the film does get a teeny bit raunchy, earning a PG-13 rating, but I would not have a problem with my niece seeing it. (There is really only one “dick joke” on screen, while in the script of the original play, this is pretty constant.)

Now if I can only get those damn songs out of my head. Grade B

cavepearl

That you got them all stuck in my head just by mentioning them is probably not something I should be admitting publicly. But... "fantastic" HAIRSPRAY? Oh, Pearl.

MAMMA MIA! goes head-to-head with THE DARK KNIGHT later this summer. I might have a few reviews of that little ditty for you as well. Until then, this is Mr. Beaks saying "Don't curve bullets, kids."