MOVIE REVIEW: 'Mamma Mia!'

From the July 18 Oregonian ...

I can see how "Mamma Mia!" might be a fun stage musical. As a movie musical, it's a train wreck.

The story (loosely adapted from the 1968 Gina Lollobrigida comedy "Buona Sera, Mrs. Campbell") concerns the tortured machinations of young bride-to-be Sophie (Amanda Seyfried). She secretly invites three men (Pierce Brosnan, Colin Firth and Stellan Skarsgård) to her wedding, to be held at the crumbling Greek inn run by her aging-bohemian mother (Meryl Streep). The locale allows the British and American lead actors to be surrounded by a Greek chorus that’s authentically Greek. Get it?

Anyway. One of these men is Sophie's father; the bride isn't sure which. She wants her real dad to give her away at the altar, you see -- but neglects to tell her mother or her fiancé about the invites, for fear of angering them. Because they certainly won't be angrier later.

But really, the story's just a series of flimsy excuses to sing the preexisting ABBA hits that make up the musical's score -- pretty much the band's entire greatest-hits album, near as I could tell.

And, again, I can see how this might play like gangbusters on a live stage, where it's been raking in unholy piles of money since 1999. The sloppiness of the story could easily be masked by a party atmosphere in the theater and big bold actors with a flair for camp. I have no doubt audiences tend to sing along.

But remove all that live-theater energy by putting it onscreen -- and hand the director's chair to original "Mamma Mia!" stage director Phyllida Lloyd, who apparently hasn't got the foggiest idea where to put a camera -- and the whole thing falls apart.

The problems are these, and they are major:

Problem 1: Sophie is apparently insane. Seyfried is a talented actress with a wide-open face. But her Bridezilla-lite  character has an idiotic plan, and she nonsensically changes personas from moment to moment, depending on what song the movie's trying to set up. Sophie might have the worst case of Princess Day Syndrome I've ever seen onscreen, and I found it impossible to root for the little twit. She brings every problem on herself.

Problem 2: The songs are inserted at random. Ideally, songs in a musical should underscore key emotions and intelligently further the story. Just because the songs in "Mamma Mia!" previously lived on "ABBA Gold"  doesn't mean you can just drop them in at emotionally unimportant moments, grinding the story to a halt.

But the filmmakers do -- early and often.

For example: An entire show-stopping number is devoted to one of Streep's cougar sidekicks (Christine Baranski) and her relationship with a horny young kid on the island. The kid has roughly one line before the song, and pretty much disappears afterward, and I had no idea why he warrants more than a couple of notes of music. For Christ's sake, Firth's character comes out of the closet and he doesn't get a song.

Poor Streep, who does her level best, is the worst victim of this songs-over-coherence approach. She's secretly thrilled to see her three exes one moment so she can sing one ABBA hit -- but then she's totally mortified seconds later so her friends can comfort her with another ABBA hit. She's also worried about money for a single scene so she can sing, you guessed it, "Money, Money, Money."  And she's only worried for the duration of the song.

Problem 3: Phyllida Lloyd doesn't know how to direct for film. This, finally, is what kills the big-screen "Mamma Mia!" dead: Lloyd directs her actors like they're still on a stage -- loud and laughing and clowning around in big ways that don't really translate to the screen -- and then does those actors a disservice with choppy, uninteresting camera work and sloppy, dull choreography. (Men wearing flippers line-dancing on a dock? Seriously? Is that the best you could do?)

Oh, and when Brosnan sings, he sounds like he's gargling a cactus. Studios used to routinely dub actors' singing voices in classic Hollywood musicals; could they please start doing it again?
_____

D; 108 minutes; rated PG-13 for some sex-related comments.

'Mamma Mia!' (The Oregonian, July 18, 2008)

Comments

[Christopher Walsh]

I need an explanation of Princess Day Syndrome. It will make me whole.

(Hi.)

[Mike Russell]

"Princess Day Syndrome" -- the temporary narcissism that afflicts young women who've spent their whole lives being conditioned by the media and their peers to build up their wedding day to an event of galactic importance.

[trish]

im sorry but i completly disagree i love this film and the songs are put in at the right times not just randomly!! everyone is entitled to their own opinion but i cant see how u came up with ours i think you should whatch the film again and just enjoy it not set out to critisize it!!