July
8Abba Rocks (Say it aint so!)
I can hear the arguments fueling up even now. “An Abba musical?... No way.”… “Meryl Streep and Pierce Brosnan singing to each other? Forget it.”It’s tough for couples to decide which movies to see at the megaplex, but the fights over “Mamma Mia” will make the “Sex and the City” battles seem like childs’ play.
So here’s the dirty little secret: “Mamma Mia” is worth the fight. It’s number one on the summer list of “guilty pleasures.”
The notion of Streep singing an Abba ballad to James Bond was a major obstacle for me. It took me back to my early days at Paramount when I was assigned (alone) to see Clint Eastwood and Lee Marvin singing to Jean Seberg in “Paint Your Wagon.” I had to see weeks of dailies and, believe me, none of those folks could sing. They all looked embarrassed trying.
Streep sings beautifully and Brosnan does OK (if you like phonetic foghorns).
And the show as a whole is a hoot because it plays on different levels. You can watch it as a showcase for Streep -- she dances and sings and lets loose and seems to be having the time of her life. Banishing all those weepy roles from her consciousness.You can see the show as high camp -- a band of talented troupers on a Greek island doing a great send-up of what is surely one of the two or three mega-hit musicals in show biz history. Mamma Mia, the jukebox musical, has played to 30 million pumped up fans in 170 different cities in 8 different languages.
You can watch the movie also as a sentimental (very sentimental) homage to the sensibilities of the ‘60s, with Streep as the hippie chick who partied with so many guys she can’t even begin to recall which of them might have fathered her daughter.
But here’s the way the biggest slice of the audience will see it -- as a hot chick flick. It’s all about middle aged women doing their thing (Christine Baranski and Julie Walters in their own star vehicle?!?). The guys in the show basically stand around and look goofy (yes, even Pierce Brosnan, and I admire him for taking this absurdly out-of-character role which he brings off with aplomb).So get used to it, folks: Abba rocks!
(I hate myself for writing that).
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Why call it a guilty pleasure? Sounds like just a pleasure to me.
Posted by: AC | 7/9/2008 1:32:58 PM
Mamma Mia is a brilliant stage show. It was one of the greatest theatrical experiences of my life. A cross between a rock concert and a great play. Saw it in London in 1999, It will make a great movie!
Posted by: Melinda Augustina | 7/9/2008 11:44:55 AM
What no mention of the film Buena Sera Mrs. Campbell? The film that the Mamma Mia people stole the plot of for their musical.
Posted by: reelBusy | 7/9/2008 11:33:46 AM
As someone who is into blues rock and roots music, seeing an ABBA musical was the furthest thing from my mind, but Mamma Mia! the play works! It's so much goofy fun that I wound up seeing it three times. If the movie captures this quality, and all the reviews say it does, then this will be the best musical adaption since Chicago! My wife and I are looking forward to seeing it.
Posted by: Dan Zee | 7/8/2008 7:30:49 PM