Mamma Mia Movie Thread- Page 6

[WiCkEDrOcKS]

Posted: 7/20/08 at 3:22pm

Saw it last night.

There's a fine, fiiiiiine line between campy and cheesy and MAMMA MIA! treads that line very, very closely. And there is probably an equal amount of cheesy moments as there are campy moments. And it's so clear that the plot is (and always has been) a lame excuse to tie together 20something of ABBA's greatest hits. The music is the story. The direction is so painfully amateurish but it actually fits the tone of the movie and the story. If any other musical on Broadway right now was made into a film as campy and cheesy as this, it would be so painfully bad but it actually fits the story well in this respect.

Amanda Seyfreid is actually very strong creating a pretty distinct character out of thin air basically. Pierce Brosnan was fine until he opened his mouth to sing. Julie Walters and Christine Baranski are really very funny and each shine in their respective solos, TAKE A CHANCE ON ME and DOES YOUR MOTHER KNOW?. Colin Firth and Stellan Saarsgard are both fine enough. And best of all (what a shock) is Meryl Streep camping it up and having a ball like no other. She's an odd choice to play this role but she shows sides to her acting talents that we've never seen before (HOW MANY SIDES TO HER TALENTS ARE THERE?!?!). She is funny, touching, and believable. When the film is going for cheesiness, Streep puts the pedal to the metal and really puts it all out there and it actually WORKS for her character and her as an actress. And she has pretty much guaranteed herself a Golden Globe nomination thanks to her beautiful, gorgeously acted, and goosebump-inducing rendition of THE WINNER TAKES IT ALL. It was the one scene in the movie that was done straight and filmed cleanly and crisply and it worked really well...some people clapped in my movie theater when it was over. The film is so cheesy and campy and riotously funny (I don't even think it was meant to be that hysterical but it is) and it's just simply the most genuine, good, clean fun you'll have at the movies this summer.

I enjoyed it way more than I should have.

*** out of ****
B