Featured Films
Mamma Mia (PG)
IF last year's film version of Hairspray put a spring in your step, then dust off your dancing shoes - Mamma Mia! is a delight.
Director Phyllida Lloyd and writer Catherine Johnson, who masterminded the smash-hit stage version of the all-singing all-dancing musical, work their magic here too with an all-star cast including Meryl Streep, Pierce Brosnan and Colin Firth.
From the opening strains of I Have A Dream to the full-cast rendition of Waterloo in glittery catsuits and platform boots, this rollicking romance set to the ABBA songbook is 108 minutes of pure, undiluted joy.
It's so much fun, Mamma Mia! should be prescribed on the NHS.
You'll leave the cinema elated - and perhaps a little tearful after Streep's heartbreaking solo of Winner Takes It All - and it doesn't matter a jot that most of the male cast can't hold a melody. Indeed, it adds to the film's boundless charm as the cast throw themselves with unrestrained gusto into each brilliantly choreographed number, including impressive mid-air splits from Streep as she bounces on a bed singing the anthemic Dancing Queen with co-stars Christine Baranski and Julie Walters, the latter scene-stealing with her comic exploits.
The Greek islands of Skiathos and Skopelos provide a breathtaking backdrop to the fun and games, with crystal blue waters where Amanda Seyfried and Dominic Cooper frolic for their duet, Lay All Your Love On Me.
You'll wish you were here.
Sophie (Seyfried) is poised to marry her hunky fiance Sky (Cooper) on an idyllic island where her mother Donna (Streep) runs a decrepit taverna. Unfortunately, the blushing bride-to-be has no one to give her away because Donna refuses to reveal the identity of Sophie's father.
So Sophie invites the three old flames who could be her father - divorced architect Sam (Brosnan), intrepid travel writer and explorer Bill (Stellan Skarsgard) and steadfast banker Harry (Firth) - in the hope that one of them will be able to walk her down the aisle.
Their sudden arrival throws Donna into an emotional whirl, leaving ballsy childhood mates Tanya (Baranski) and Rosie (Walters) to pick up the pieces.
Mamma Mia! skips merrily through ABBA's greatest hits, including Gimme Gimme Gimme, Super Trooper and Take A Chance On Me.
Sadly, screenwriter Johnson excises a number of songs (Knowing Me, Knowing You, The Name Of The Game and One Of Us) for the stage show to keep the running time trim, consigning Thank You For The Music to the end credits.
Streep is marvellous as a mother on the verge of a nervous breakdown, and Brosnan, Firth and Skarsgard embrace their roles without restraint, having as much fun making the film as we do watching it.
Their infectious energy reaches a giddy high when we're encouraged to sing and dance like lunatics in the aisles to an uproarious reprise of Dancing Queen.
Resistance is futile.
DAMON SMITH
12:32pm Friday 11th July 2008
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CommentPosted by: Ann-Marie Wade, Gravesend, Kent on 2:48pm Thu 17 Jul 08
Is there anyway I could get in touch with the writer Catherine Johnson. I am Head of Creative Arts at a high performing high school with students who are passionate about the Arts. We are keen to do an adaptation of Mamma Mia. We have previously successfully done an adaptation of We Will Rock You by kind permission of Ben Elton and Brian May. As Mamma Mia reaches its 10th Anniversary next year we would like to celebrate it by staging an adapted version of it.
Is there anyway I could get in touch with the writer Catherine Johnson. I am Head of Creative Arts at a high performing high school with students who are passionate about the Arts. We are keen to do an adaptation of Mamma Mia. We have previously successfully done an adaptation of We Will Rock You by kind permission of Ben Elton and Brian May. As Mamma Mia reaches its 10th Anniversary next year we would like to celebrate it by staging an adapted version of it.
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