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‘Mamma Mia!' a real musical treat for the audience

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If any film has ever screamed “chick flick,” even more than “Sex in the City,” it is the Broadway musical-turned-movie, “Mamma Mia!” It's a musical built completely around the music of the rock group ABBA. With its all-star cast - some talented singers, other are lucky to have acting to fall back on - I found “Mamma Mia” a silly, high energy, ridiculously fun romp. While one of my fellow (male) critics sat with his head in his shirt playing on his iPhone, I laughed, sang along, and generally enjoyed the inanity that is “Mamma Mia!”

Amanda Seyfried (“Mean Girls”) portrays Sophie, a pretty young girl about to be married to her handsome boyfriend Sky (Dominic Cooper). Raised alone by her mother Donna (Meryl Streep) in a less-than-fancy hotel on a Greek island, Sophie has no idea as to the identity of her father. She discovers her mother's diary and unbeknownst to her mom, she invites three potential dad candidates - Sam Carmichael (Pierce Brosnan), Harry Bright (Colin Firth) and Bill (Stellan Skarsgard) - to her wedding by forging Donna's signature on the invitations.

Curious to see Donna, each fellow - completely unaware of the true purpose of the invitation - arrives in Greece and just happens to show up at the exact same time. Sophie feels certain she will immediately know her father, but when the three very different men show up, she is confused and perplexed and tries in vain to hide them from her mother. It is after the men are discovered on the island that Donna tells her best friends that she doesn't know who fathered Sophie - and the fireworks and singing really begin.

Seyfried can sing and her stage presence is exceptional. Streep, who sings alone and with others, belts them out like nobody's business. I was pleasantly surprised. But the show stealers are really Donna's two best friends Tanya (Christine Baranski) and Rosie (Julie Walters), who are best with their funny antics, but also do pretty well with the tunes. Together with Streep, they have some of the film's best scenes and songs.

Continuing the casting excellence here, actors Brosnan, Firth and Skarsgard surprise with some otherwise hidden talents of their own. Brosnan's singing isn't really singing at all, but more like poetic or rhythmic acting, but it fits the role he plays here - a man disillusioned with love and yearning to be proven wrong. In reality, it made for some truly funny moments (desired or not) when he has two duets with Streep. Firth, who plays a stuffy banker working on his “spontaneity” issues, always has wonderful, subtle facial expressions and delivery, making him wholly lovable. In “Mamma Mia!” he sings and plays a simple guitar solo introducing one of the sequences featuring all three men - and it wasn't half bad. Skarsgard, who looks different in every movie, nails the laid-back role of the carefree guy who sails the world rather than act responsible and grownup.

In terms of musical numbers, “Mamma Mia!” is a real treat for ABBA lovers. Besides “Dancing Queen,” other highlights include “‘The Winner Takes It All,” “Voulez-Vous,” “Take a Chance on Me” and “Money, Money, Money.”

Keeping true to the high-energy of the stage show, director Phyllida Law, working from Catherine Johnson's excellent screenplay, moves the story along at a vigorous pace by including as many musical numbers as possible, but not so many that it becomes annoying.   

I think the most notable aspect of “Mamma Mia!” lies in the fact that the cast never takes the whole thing too seriously. In fact, they appear to be having so much fun, I wanted to jump up and join them in the frivolity. I can only imagine what the set was like - Brosnan working with his vocal coach, trying desperately to carry a tune, Streep laughing hysterically at some of her lines and actions, and the others cutting up all the time, with Walters leading the clownery.

I saw the stage version in New York a couple of years ago and remember enjoying it, but nothing really stuck with me. In the movie, the cast is just so much fun, I couldn't help like it and I will remember it fondly. There is nothing wrong with a film that never tries to take itself too seriously and a cast that has great fun taking part in it. I can see where men - like the critic sitting next to me - might prefer a root canal, but my best friend, her daughter and I had a good time watching it. That is enough for me to place a C+/B- in my grade book. I know I'll take some grief for giving it a higher grade than “The Incredible Hulk” or “Journey to the Center of the Earth 3D,” but I am a chick and I like this flick!

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