#1
Posted: 7/18/08 at 9:57pm
Irredeemably awful in every respect, but so remarkably endearing that you forget you're watching what's possibly one of the cheesiest movies ever made.
But perhaps that's what they were going for. At which point, I must applaud Phyllida Lloyd, Catherine Johnson, and Anthony Von Laast for sticking with their original vision and not selling out to Hollywood. What they've created is a movie musical so bad that it's good.
You think to yourself that it can't get any cheesier - but then they do something to top it in cheesiness! And you can't help but grin and laugh like a doofus because the creators and actors don't give a crap about convention or cheesiness or goodness or badness. It was awful, but I loved every minute of it.
Except the dialogue. The dialogue scenes were painful - and the fact that they added dialogue and development was even worse. But damn ABBA has to create such infectious music that you can get past the 15 minutes dialogue between each song in the first half. The 2nd half is still song after song after song - the same problem I had with the show - but here it's better because it's feeding the desire for less dialogue, more song.
No, Pierce Brosnan can't sing - and whenever he starts to sing he got a HUGE laugh at the theater where I saw it. Meryl Streep can - she's not a strong singer by any means, but she's more then passable and you can tell she had a great time. Surprisingly good performances from Colin Furth and Christine Baranski and Dominic Cooper; hilarious turns from Stellan Saarsgard and Julie Walters.
To quote Mel Brooks "what knockers" on Amanda Seyfried. Almost as big as her eyes. Kinda creepy having her in the swimsuit with the 3-potential dads, but hey, they gotta balance out Dominic Cooper shirtless somehow. And I'll gladly take it.
You can tell that it's Phyllida Lloyd's screen debut - it has the same color and ring that THE PRODUCERS remake did - only this movie goes somewhere. Except in the dialogue scenes.
Worth $10? Certainly. When you realize that you paid nearly 10x that to see the show.
But perhaps that's what they were going for. At which point, I must applaud Phyllida Lloyd, Catherine Johnson, and Anthony Von Laast for sticking with their original vision and not selling out to Hollywood. What they've created is a movie musical so bad that it's good.
You think to yourself that it can't get any cheesier - but then they do something to top it in cheesiness! And you can't help but grin and laugh like a doofus because the creators and actors don't give a crap about convention or cheesiness or goodness or badness. It was awful, but I loved every minute of it.
Except the dialogue. The dialogue scenes were painful - and the fact that they added dialogue and development was even worse. But damn ABBA has to create such infectious music that you can get past the 15 minutes dialogue between each song in the first half. The 2nd half is still song after song after song - the same problem I had with the show - but here it's better because it's feeding the desire for less dialogue, more song.
No, Pierce Brosnan can't sing - and whenever he starts to sing he got a HUGE laugh at the theater where I saw it. Meryl Streep can - she's not a strong singer by any means, but she's more then passable and you can tell she had a great time. Surprisingly good performances from Colin Furth and Christine Baranski and Dominic Cooper; hilarious turns from Stellan Saarsgard and Julie Walters.
To quote Mel Brooks "what knockers" on Amanda Seyfried. Almost as big as her eyes. Kinda creepy having her in the swimsuit with the 3-potential dads, but hey, they gotta balance out Dominic Cooper shirtless somehow. And I'll gladly take it.
You can tell that it's Phyllida Lloyd's screen debut - it has the same color and ring that THE PRODUCERS remake did - only this movie goes somewhere. Except in the dialogue scenes.
Worth $10? Certainly. When you realize that you paid nearly 10x that to see the show.
Updated On: 7/18/08 at 09:57 PM
