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Author Topic: Mamma Mia (2008) John Wilson Film God Posts: 5438 From: Sydney, Australia. Registered: Dec 1999 posted 07-19-2008 07:15 PM                     I had such hopes for this picture and it kind of works...if only the entire cast could actually oh, I don't know...SING! Shouldn't that be a prerequisite for a musical? Seriously, every time Pierce Brosnan opens his mouth I cringe along with the audience...I feel their pain. The film basically tries to stich some sort of story together from the existing lyrics of ABBA's long (so long) list of hit tunes. Many times it works. The movie opens with the great 'I Had A Dream' and gets on with it at telling the story of a young girl about to be married but without a father to give her away at the wedding. Her solution? Steal her mother's diary from the summer she was conceived and send invites to the three guys she bonked that summer in Greece. Along comes Pierce, Colin Firth and Stellan Skarsgard as the three potential Dads. I'd never heard of Skarsgard before but he's not bad. A Swedish actor I assume he's there as a nod the the Swedish ABBA...maybe he's Benny's favorite? The audience sings along (to themselves) but they should really all let it rip and try and drown out the guys on screen as I'm sure they could on the whole do a better job of it. Did I mention it's a musical? People are blaming Woody Allen for making 'Everyone Says I Love You' and having his actors actually sing...but even Woody realized Drew Barrymore sucked and overdubbed her voice with a real singer. Good grief...singing actors do exist. On the whole I think it really could have worked well with better casting. Meryl Streep is great, but she's just so wrong for this role. Colin Firth plays himself as always. Amanda Seyfried in the main role as Sophie does a great job so they must have lucked out there. The supports of Julie Walters and Christine Baranski as Meryl's long time friends are just there for comic relief but 1) cannot sing and 2) are not funny. Julie's rendition of Take A Chance On Me made me want to cringe. The director, Phyllidia Lloyd has never directed a movie before and hopefully never will again. It's a complete exercise in how NOT to make a movie with poor set-ups, lazy camera movements and lousy editing. In the credits there are two songs 'performed' on stage by Meryl, Julie and Christine. First is Dancing Queen and then Waterloo. At the end of the first one, Meryl comes up to the camera and yells at the audience: "DO YOU WANT ANOTHER ONE?" The audience should yell out what I say in my head every time. "Oh, God...NOoooooooooooooooo...! MERCY!!!!!!!!!!!!" Enjoy the songs and reminisce if you like, but Mamma Mia is better left as a hit tune from the 70's. I wanted to like it...honest I did. 1/5 [ 07-20-2008, 02:10 AM: Message edited by: John Wilson ]  |  IP: Logged Michael Barry Jedi Master Film Handler Posts: 584 From: Sydney, NSW, Australia Registered: Nov 1999 posted 07-19-2008 11:22 PM                     Thanks for the heads-up, John. I was thinking of checking this one out, but I will save my time and go watch some more episodes of Veronica Mars instead. Skarsgard is a great actor - Swedish, yes - whom I first came across in his stellar performance opposite Emily Watson in 'Breaking The Waves'. That's the part I most remember him for. After becoming better known in the original version of 'Insomnia', he crossed over to mainstream movies and was great in 'Good Will Hunting'. It sounds like he's wasted here, though. Pity. Sorry if this is getting a bit off topic. I cannot review the movie as I haven't seen it, and probably (now) won't. Next review, please!  |  IP: Logged Emma Tomiak Expert Film Handler Posts: 238 From: Carrollton, TX, USA Registered: Aug 2003 posted 07-20-2008 01:12 AM                        Just...awful. I felt like I needed to watch Hairspray to make myself feel better after screening this.  |  IP: Logged Michael Dolan Film Handler Posts: 77 From: Deerfield Beach, fl. Registered: May 2008 posted 07-20-2008 01:54 AM                        That really sucks!!! I myself am a huge fan of musicals and really was looking forward to seeing this movie. I'm not sure if I'm going to now. However I have had alot of people come out saying it was great. So I guess I will see soon and give my review  |  IP: Logged John Wilson Film God Posts: 5438 From: Sydney, Australia. Registered: Dec 1999 posted 07-20-2008 02:11 AM                     I knew I'd seen him before when he was much younger. Breaking The Waves, that would be it.  |  IP: Logged Joe Redifer You need a beating today Posts: 12859 From: Denver, Colorado Registered: May 99 posted 07-20-2008 02:17 AM                        I have only seen bits and pieces of this from the booth, fortunately. This movie will make you hate all of the actors due to their character's insipid personalities. The premise of the story itself makes me cringe. The picture is bright and sharp, but the colors are digitally oversaturated and contrasty. Then you add a soundtrack that will make you immensely jealous of deaf people and it only gets worse. This is fantastic movie to contemplate suicide to.  |  IP: Logged Carol May Film Handler Posts: 48 From: los angeles, ca, usa Registered: Nov 2006 posted 07-20-2008 08:11 PM                     I saw it this afternoon. Hairspray it was not. It didn't have half the energy. I never saw the stage musical, but I kept feeling as though it might have, or seem to have, more energy because a large cast would be confined to a small space where they would sing and dance their hearts out live. On the big screen I kept feeling like they didn't know how to use all the space they had, so what were supposed to be big numbers shrank. While none of the three fathers could sing, I thought it was wonderful casting because there's no question that Meryl Streep, or most women, would be attracted to all three. I loved Julie Walters. I'm not a huge fan of Streep or Christine Baranski, but they didn't bother me any. What's sad for the future is how bland all the young singer-actors were. Who's going to take over in 20 years when Streep's generation of actors has retired?  |  IP: Logged Shane Cooper Expert Film Handler Posts: 232 From: Little Rock, Arkansas Registered: Jun 2004 posted 07-20-2008 11:11 PM                     I remember Skarsgard from Good Will Hunting.  |  IP: Logged Mike Heenan Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1896 From: Scottsdale, AZ, USA Registered: Mar 2000 posted 07-20-2008 11:28 PM                     Haven't seen it yet but fortunately it sounds like the only good thing to come from the movie is the first public reunion of all 4 members of the group in over 25 years at the Stockholm premiere.  |  IP: Logged Paul Linfesty Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1383 From: Bakersfield, CA, USA Registered: Nov 1999 posted 07-21-2008 12:28 AM                     THis is truly one of the most incompetent musicals I've seen ever! The film looks overexposed in a number of scenes. It's WAY too bright with no subtelty, which I guess matches the "performances." THe girl actually sings well and Meryl Streep is OK,but most of the performances are way over the top. While the boys in their flippers have an excuse for what laughably passes for dancing on the pier, what is everyone else's excuse? The actors play up to the cameras in the style of those buddy comedies where its all wink! wink! patronizing style. (And I want to make it clear that I actually LIKE musicals!  |  IP: Logged Louis Bornwasser Film God Posts: 4441 From: prospect ky usa Registered: Mar 2005 posted 07-21-2008 06:05 AM                        Well. . . . . it's a woman's film, especially, a woman-of-a-certain-age-movie. All comments above are true, but if you can't relax and enjoy a frothy summertime delight like Mama Mia! with Streep as your cheerleader, then you are to be pitied. Streep never misses. (Repeat after me: Streep never . . . . ) Louis  |  IP: Logged Hillary Charles Jedi Master Film Handler Posts: 748 From: York, PA, USA Registered: Feb 2001 posted 07-21-2008 07:08 AM                     quote: Paul Linfesty It's WAY too bright with no subtelty Didn't you just describe ABBA's music? I saw it Friday night (the previous show was sold out) with some female co-workers, so between us women of that "certain age" of 20's 30's and 40's, it was entertaining. I do agree that visually, it often looked sloppy. The timing from shot to shot was often stunning in how it did not match. And though it was shot in Panavision, the picture seemed softer than I would have expected. I saw the live show on Broadway in 2005, so I knew what to expect story-wise. It's goofy and over the top, again like much of ABBA's music. But unlike ABBA's tightly produced music, the movie seems very casual and often haphazard. Like celebrities doing karaoke. Having said that, we did enjoy it, with all its faults. I could go into detail over the various vocal abilities of the actors (upon later listening to Pierce Brosnan on Youtube, he really doesn't sound as bad as all that--I think much of my initial cringing was the incongruity of watching James Bond sing ABBA). I can easily see this campy film becoming a "Midnight Movie," with a Rocky Horror kind of participation. BTW, I love ABBA's music.  |  IP: Logged Tim Reed Better Projection Pays Posts: 5246 From: Northampton, PA Registered: Sep 1999 posted 07-22-2008 12:18 PM                       Can't wait to see this. I purely LOVE ABBA!  |  IP: Logged Mike Heenan Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1896 From: Scottsdale, AZ, USA Registered: Mar 2000 posted 07-24-2008 12:09 AM                     Just saw this tonight, and wow it was.... interesting. The 2 sidekicks (baranski and what's her name) did pretty horrible renditions of the songs, but Meryl Streep was probably the "best" of all the singers. The colors were nice, but I didnt understand the fakey/contrasty look that most of the film had, it was out of place like the vaseline lense look in Indiana Jones 4. It was great to see the male members from ABBA in the film, I didn't see Frida or Agnetha though.  |  IP: Logged Hillary Charles Jedi Master Film Handler Posts: 748 From: York, PA, USA Registered: Feb 2001 posted 07-24-2008 05:53 AM                     Unfortunately, Frida and Agnetha aren't in the movie at all. Probably not interested because they haven't made tons of money off the show like Benny and Bjorn. They all did appear together at the Swedish premiere.  |  IP: Logged

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