..Gary Dretzka
..Noah Forrest
..Leonard Klady
..R.J. Matson
..David Poland
..Douglas Pratt
..Ray Pride
..Kim Voynar
..Michael Wilmington

Mamma Mia!
Directed by Phyllida Lloyd

I have to confess that I basically missed the Abba phenomenon. One couldn't escape many of their hits, but the intense mania accorded the Swedish rock group by devotees remained an arm's length relationship personally.

One also couldn't be blind to the stunning success of Mamma Mia!, the stage musical that wove their roster of songs into a melodrama of longing and realization. It was a testament to the group's popularity rather than a cutting edge, new direction for the musical stage. It wasn't A Chorus Line or Rent but a touchstone for the likes of Joni, Jersey Boys and Beatlemania.

The film version of Mamma Mia! is, to its credit, fun and shameless. It's also dotted with questionable casting, inane production numbers and a clunky narrative arc. As with its inspiration it's best to hum along with the music and disregard the large dollop of hokum that is its essence.

Catherine Johnson, who co-created the stage production, hasn't tinkered much with the book that proved so successful on the boards. It's still largely focused on Sophie (Amanda Seyfried), a comely twentysomething about to be married at the remote Greek stumble-down hotel of her mother Donna (Meryl Streep).

Sophie grew up without a father and as luck would have it finds her mother's diary with details of sexual encounters leading up to her conception. There are three possible paternity candidates and Sophie surreptitiously invites the trio under cover of her mother's forged signature to the blessed event. She's convinced she will recognize the obvious blood bond on sight.

The rather too cute and coincidental arrival of the three men however fails to provide catharsis. In this production, she most closely resembles Bill (Stellan Skarsgard), a Scandinavian writer-adventurer. But her untrained eye also ponders the possibilities of Harry (Colin Firth), a British banker and the architect Sam (Pierce Brosnan). The ultimate resolution is arbitrary and inconsequential to the gaiety and frothiness of this confection.

The film skips along blithely to the Abba beat with the drama generally adopting the group's songs in a literal rather than an interpretive fashion. The considerably greater sin is the direction of Phyllida Lloyd (who encores from the initial stage production) and choreographer Anthony Van Laast. They physicalize the character's inner feelings and emotions in dance numbers most reminiscent of the overblown production numbers of Busby Berkeley.

Most emerge as unintended parodies of movie musicals with a couple of exceptions that demonstrate the capabilities and failed potential of the piece. The arrangement for "Voulez-vous" conveys the frustration and torment Sophie is experiencing in a rather hysterical and perilous fashion that's momentarily intoxicating and stirring. But the majority falls into the category embraced by "Dancing Queen," a Hellenic line dance that chiefly boasts a travelogue sensibility hard to avoid in such idyllic location settings.

What is rather inventive about "Dancing Queen" is the manner in which it utilizes the current cast's trilling combined with rather subtle mixing of the Abba original. It's a reminder of the exposed nerve that song touched without diminishing the effort's the road show version.

A large part of the watchability of this Mamma Mia! rests with Seyfried's performance. In addition to her ability to sell a song, she assails the role of naïf with unerring conviction. Streep is also strong though limited by a melodic if thin voice and Christine Baranski as one of Donna's old cronies elevates a thankless role with the pizzazz of an old Broadway pro. However Brosnan at best is a good sport barely capable of hitting the notes or staying in key (a duet with Streep was cut but one imagines the embarrassment will show up on its DVD release).

One can also quibble about the dramatic shift toward Donna that was doubtless created by Streep's casting and, like the theatrical production, its myriad endings necessitated by including the Abba repertoire for music fans oblivious to the rigors of dramatic structure. The effort is not shameful; simply shameless in the way it plays to the crowd. Still its employ and utilization of Abba is less accomplished when put alongside Muriel's Wedding. That film managed to take the songs and the title character's devotion to them to a level that was funny, heartbreaking and honest.

- Leonard Klady
July 17, 2008