Have you seen it yet? The perfect outlet for my inner rock-chick-Abba-washing-up-80s-retro self combined with soppy fun plot, great cinematography and Meryl Strreep letting her hair down in a big way and incidentally singing incredibly well.
We went to see it, just us two, last week on a movie date and immediately wished we’d taken the children, while they’re still young enough to think Abba is cool. So we went back with friends on Sunday: 4 adults and 5 children all singing along and dancing around in their seats … all except me that is …after the woman next but one to me leaned over her teenage daughter to ask me to stop singing :(
It was during the chorus of SOS with Pierce Brosnan managing to look sad and serious while leaning in the doorway, and I wasn’t belting it out, my voice pretty much drowned out by the high volume sound track or so I thought, but I guess if you’re a teenager it is embarrassing to sit next to a forty something woman with only moderate singing ability – I don’t blame her … much! But it’s obviously festering so I thought I’d better let it out in a mini rant and have done with it:
Mamma Mia is meant to be fun, how can anyone sit through it motionless, without a glimmer of a smile or chuckle, let alone the odd chorus line escaping their lips. If you’re going to watch Meryl Streep and appreciate her fine acting, you can still let the music infect you with a certain lightness of spirit – I mean how can anyone not want to sing along to Abba, unless they really hate it.
I promise I didn’t sing along to any of the solos – I did have that much respect for the poignant moment. All the rest of our group sang along sotto voce to their heart’s content, as I was the buffer zone fielding the occasional pointed look every now and then. Perhaps they should divide the cinema into zones - singing and non-singing zones with a sound proof barrier for those who prefer not to join in.
Anyway for anyone who enjoys Abba or likes a rollicking musical, I highly recommend Mamma Mia – the children were asking when we could get the DVD before the movie had even finished, so I can see many private viewings in the future, with the floor cleared for singing, dancing and such-like embarrassing behaviour – now all we need to do is get hold of some incredibly high platform boots and glittery jumpsuits, a touch of dry ice and a Greek island!
Oh Kit - LOL! I can't believe some woman told you to stop singing!! What did she think this was - La Traviata?!
ReplyDeleteI agree with you 100% - it is a FANTASTICALLY fun movie. SO many of my friends were quite sniffy about going to see it, as if admitting that you liked it meant that you wouldn't know an art movie if it bit you in the bum and therefore undermine your high-brow credentials forever. Whatever!! The one actually said to me before she went "but isn't it terribly cheesy?". Lady, it's ABBA, it's MEANT to be cheesy.
I think Meryl Streep should get the Oscar for Most Game Performance by a Leading Actress. She is so hugely talented, but here she just lets her hair down and goes for it. Belting out Winner Takes it All on a Greek clifftop to a bemused Pierce Brosnan with the wine blowing in her hair at sunset, witho no trace of irony? Give the lady her statuette, please.
I loved loved loved everything about it. EVERYONE was singing in the cinema when I went to see it (together with my 71 yr old hubby's gran, who loved it as much as your kids. Behold the Power of ABBA.) and nobody seemed to want to leave. The squeal of excitement I let out when they did the Waterloo "encore" like in the stage show was somethign to remember. And granny Jean and I were shedding real tears during Slipping Through my Fingers.
But best of all, you walk out of the cinema on such a total HIGH!! The best fun you can possbly have, drug-free, with your clothes on :)
I'm glad you loved it too, Jeanne! The winner Takes it All really was outstanding - she played all the emotion so well, in incredibly corny circumstances but it came across totally true!
ReplyDeleteI went with a friend. I was singing along having a great time when I looked over at her. She was not singing. She looked to be in pain. "What?" I hissed. "I had no idea this was a musical. I hate musicals." she said.
ReplyDeleteHow does someone who isn't Amish or from some small bushman tribe NOT know that Mama Mia is a musical? How could that escape them?
I was so sorry I missed this movie when it hit town this summer. I've heard wonderful reviews, and personally have adored Abba since the mid 70's! Meryl Streep is one of my fav actresses. When it is out on DVD/blue ray I'll rent it.
ReplyDeleteAmy Winehouse is one of my favs too! I am listening to her "rehab" playlist right now. :) I dig the 50's-60's sounding jazz/torch singer vibe she has. Her quirky voice rocks! My youngest dd thinks I'm too old and unhip for this kind of music...;)