Mamma Mia

Saw this movie tonight. I liked it - there were some great moments. But there were also some excruciating ones. Watching Meryl Streep writhe around is cutoff overalls during the title number just didn't work for me, though when she sang The Winner Takes It All, I had chills. It's a trade-off, I suppose.

The biggest problem I had was that the lead actors are all WAY too old - the daughter is 20 years old, so the mom, Donna, and her three suitors (the sexy-at-any-age Pierce Brosnan, Stellan Skarsgard, and the always watchable Colin Firth) should be what, 40 or 45 at the oldest? Meryl looks fabulous, but she's closer to 60, and the men are all in their 50s - that means their characters went through these youthful indiscretions and rebellions in their late 30s! I have to admit, I found that totally distracting. (I also wondered why Pierce was cast as the American. Of course he's delicious, but he's totally Irish. I guess there's just no sexy American actors of a certain age who were willing or available.)

As for the singing, the actress playing the daughter, Amanda Seyfried (probably best known for Mean Girls), has a lovely strong voice, and Meryl is also good, but none of the men sing all that well, and they really shouldn't be expected to carry whole musical numbers alone.

On the positive side, Christine Baranski is riveting - her number, Does Your Mamma Know, was one of the high points of the movie. And it was fun seeing Willoughby (Dominic Cooper) from the latest version of Sense and Sensibility, in a very different (though still adorable) role - as Sky, the groom. And the biggest bonus (SPOILER ALERT) - the truly passionate kiss between Donna (Meryl Streep) and Sam (Pierce Bronson) at the end, instead of some bullshit peck. You so rarely see passion between older characters, that was refreshing to say the least.

I never saw the stage show, and while musicals are not generally my cup of tea, I was surprised at how well the ABBA songs were fit into the story. Some better than others, of course - some felt really shoe-horned in. And it felt long. But what to take out? The numbers that I didn't care for could have been other people's favorites. I mostly remember ABBA's dance hits, but several of their lesser known ballads are truly beautiful (Lay Your Love on Me was a wonderful number). The movie gives these all-too-familiar songs a new depth and character, so that listening to them now, they have all new meaning.

Side note - ABBA's major composer, Benny Andersson (who has a cameo in the movie as a piano player), wrote some additional music for the movie's score, but because all the songs have been previously published, none are eligible for consideration when the Academy Award nominations roll around. Seems so unfair.

ADDENDUM

It's been 4 days and I'm still listening to my hubby's ABBA Gold album - even though I didn't adore the movie, the songs have become imprinted on my brain!