Mamma Mia

‘Mamma Mia’ the movie is nothing more than a high-budget song-and-dance routine that has nothing to offer, and nothing meaningful to say (or sing). Not only did I have to sit through Pierce Brosnan’s terrible ‘singing’, and Christine Baranski and Julie Waters’ cringe-worthy displays of stunted adolescence, there was also Amanda Seyfried’s over-over acting to contend with. Yes, there is such a thing, the experience of which leaves one exhausted, uncomfortable and feeling slightly ripped-off for having to watch a performance that was simply trying too hard without actually achieving anything. Such is the case with Seyfried who plays the naive, soon-to-be-married Sophie who sets out to discover who her real father is so that he can walk her down the aisle. Her face literally goes red as a tomato during the over-over acting of a ‘confrontation scene’ that, in any other half-decent movie, would have been nothing more than a heated discussion.

Try-hard acting and terrible vocals aside, the actual movie adaptation of the Broadway musical added nothing to the original show. Though I have not watched the musical myself, the movie played like a direct copy of a live performance – just stick these people on a stage and nothing would have been different. This may be sufficient for some viewers, but to my understanding one of the purposes of adapting a story from one format to another is to add something new to the narrative – another element, a deeper layer of meaning, another way of seeing the story even. Otherwise, what’s the point? Nothing of the sort was achieved in this movie. The performances were shallow, the characters were shallow, the storyline was shallow. The only depth was in the ocean surrounding the Greek island setting.

The single saving grace of the film is Meryl Streep, whose role as mother-of-the-bride Donna was engaging, sincere and humorous without the pitfalls of amateur try-hard acting. Streep’s climactic solo, singing ‘The Winner Takes It All’, was superb and is the only moment of dignity in an otherwise obnoxiously-melodramatic film. That was two hours that would have been better spent playing Scrabble, which at least would have required some depth of thought.