Batman was my first choice last weekend and there was no time to see 2 movies, so Mama Mia! got pushed off to this weekend though I was really wanting to see it the first weekend. I tend to have a weakness for musicals and even better then they become movies to save some money. Don’t get me wrong, I do like live shows, but if done well, movies inspired from theatrical presentations can bring the show to your home, just make sure you have a big screen and great surround sound 🙂 I enjoy watching good movies many times, and seeing Mama Mia! 10 times on Broadway may cost me a bit more than a $20 DVD 🙂
On to the movie….I was moving in my seat, and admittedly sang along for a bit as I knew most of the songs. It was understanding that the actors and actresses were required to sing and dance without any doubles. Most of the singing was great, but Pierce Bronson…..wow, I don’t think he should sing again! If you see the movie, let me know what you think about his singing.
The movie starts with the soon to be married daughter mailing letters to 3 guys in her mother’s diary which were “…” 9 month before her birth. Apparently “…” refers to baby making. While her mother denied being with hundreds of men, she was not able to identify her father among them.
The bride does her best to keep the presence of the 3 potential dads a secret from her mother and groom, but she discovers them early on and tries to figure out how and why they are on the island. Eventually the guys figure out that they were invited in order for the bride to find out who is her father and to ask them to give her way at the wedding. One would think that her mother should be the one to do this since she has been raised by her mom for 20 years.
After countless ABBA hits, we get to the wedding ceremony. A lot goes on at the alter and the bride and groom turn out to be one of the dads and the brides mother! The original bride and groom decide to go off traveling and postpone their marriage. One of the dads is gay and finds a lover on the island, and the other one is stalked by a friend of the brides mom who I believe is a judge on that David Hasselhoff talent show.
Julie Walters and Christine Baranski are amazing! They make you laugh through the entire movie.
So take a friend and go see this great movie musical! It is based on ABBA hits, so if you don’t like ABBA, I would not recommend going to see this movie.
