Mamma Mia! how can you resist it?
When Mamma Mia! burst onto cinema screens in 2008, it did so with all the subtlety of a disco ball crashing onto a Grecian villa made of spandex and sequins – but let’s thank the music it did. Based on the wildly successful stage musical, itself a love letter to the perennial hits of ABBA, Mamma Mia! takes the basic framework of a breezy romantic comedy and layers it with enough toe-tapping tunes and effervescent performances to make even the most jaded cinephile grin ear to ear. It’s not so much a film as a 109-minute holiday in the sun, complete with questionable karaoke performances and even more questionable holiday flings – and it’s this week’s Friday Night Family Movie Night choice.
The plot centres around Sophie (Amanda Seyfried), a young bride-to-be living on a postcard-perfect Greek island with her free-spirited mother Donna (Meryl Streep). Sophie has a dream: to discover the identity of her father before she ties the knot. The only problem? Donna’s diary suggests there are three contenders for the paternal prize. Cue the arrival of Sam (Pierce Brosnan), Harry (Colin Firth), and Bill (Stellan Skarsgård), three former flames who descend on the island, blissfully unaware of Sophie’s intentions.
Mamma Mia! the movie knows exactly what it’s doing with this borderline bedroom farce setup, and it revels in the chaos that follows. Director Phyllida Lloyd ensures the pace never lags, keeping the plot moving briskly from one ABBA hit to the next, turning the Greek isle into an all-singing, all-dancing playground of nostalgia and unbridled joy. There’s a carefree charm to it all, a sense that everyone involved is in on the joke – and what a glorious jape it all is.
Meryl Streep leads the charge, throwing herself into the role of Donna with infectious glee. Watching one of the most revered actresses of her generation belt out “Dancing Queen” while cavorting around a jetty with Christine Baranski and Julie Walters is the very definition of cinema magic. Streep, never one to disrespect the material, brings enormous depth to her performance, especially in the more emotional numbers like “The Winner Takes It All,” reminding us why she’s a national treasure even as she embraces the silliness with open arms and finds the authentic humanity in Donna’s otherwise lightly sketched character.
As for the dads at the heart of the plot well, they’re an interesting mix. Colin Firth and Stellan Skarsgård seem to be having the time of their lives, with Firth’s uptight Harry letting loose in ways that feel like a sly wink at his more buttoned-up roles and Skarsgård bringing a laid-back charm that makes you wonder if Bill has ever really left the 1970s behind – and whether he was right not to do so. And then there’s Pierce Brosnan, apparently suffering worse torture than he ever endured as Bond, valiantly tackling his musical duties despite a singing voice that might best be described as bravely committed. Still, it’s hard to fault him when his sincerity is so endearing and, if nothing else, Brosnan deserves full marks for effort – and for giving us a rendition of “SOS” that really makes us feel like someone is in distress.
Visually, the film is a feast of sun-soaked landscapes and blue-domed chapels. The island of Kalokairi, played by the real-life Greek island Skopelos, fills the screen beautifully, with every frame practically screaming, “Book your summer holiday now!” But Mamma Mia! isn’t just about gorgeous scenery and spirited performances; it’s a film that wears its heart on its glittery, tassel-fringed sleeve, unashamed of its sentimental core. It’s about love – romantic, parental, and platonic, relationships that stand the test of time – and it defiantly refuses to apologise for its excess or its earnestness.
Of course, everything works because it’s all held together by the songs of ABBA, which remain as irresistible as ever. The film wisely sticks to the biggest hits, weaving tracks like “Super Trouper,” “Take a Chance on Me,” and “Voulez-Vous” into the narrative with varying degrees of plausibility. Plausibility isn’t the point—joy is. The joy that comes from watching a cast of seasoned actors abandon themselves to the music, no matter how ridiculous the context might be, and invite you to join in. It’s this wholehearted embrace of the absurd that makes Mamma Mia! such a delight.
If you’re the kind of viewer who rolls their eyes at spontaneous outbreaks of song and finds glitter inherently suspicious, Mamma Mia! won’t be the film for you. But if you’re willing to check your cynicism at the door, you’ll find a film that offers an unrelenting barrage of happiness, served with a side of feta and a jug of ouzo. Ultimately, Mamma Mia! isn’t just a movie; it’s a holiday romance you can experience over and over again whenever you want to. It’s pure escapism wrapped in spandex and sequins, and it makes no apologies for being exactly what it is: a glorious celebration of love, life, and the enduring power of peerless Swedish europop.
