This summer Hollywood continued its trend of turning Broadway musicals into films with Mamma Mia! The movie, inspired by the hit songs of 1970s rock ensemble ABBA, has its ups and downs but ultimately leaves audience members slightly disappointed.
The story centers around an island wedding. Sophie (Amanda Seyfried) is getting married and wants her wedding to be perfect — but she has a problem. Thanks to her mother’s promiscuous past, she doesn’t know who her father is. Despite his mysterious identity, she wants to find him and have him walk her down the aisle. Her search leads her to three potential fathers, and each is invited to the wedding. Her plan is to talk to each one and discover which one is her real true dad.
Along with its happy-go-lucky wedding theme, one of the biggest assets to this movie is the ABBA songs. When people come to a show already knowing the songs, they can sing along. Much of the comedy of Mamma Mia! comes when these songs are hidden in the plot. Like a treasure hunt, characters unexpectedly burst out into favorites like “Take a Chance on Me,” “Dancing Queen” and, of course, “Mamma Mia.” Unfortunately, while these songs are welcomed with open arms by audience members, the connection between song and plot often seems a bit forced.
Another more substantial weakness is the male cast. In particular, Pierce Brosnan (one of Sophie’s potential fathers) and Dominic Cooper (Sophie’s fiancé) offer unimpressive performances. These two performers had fairly large parts and took usual musical theatre over-exuberance to an extreme. Their over-the-top portrayals left the audience laughing at serious parts of the movie and would have been better used onstage than on screen.
The main female performers, on the other hand, were brilliant. Meryl Streep was dynamic as Donna, Sophie’s mother. She shocked many audience members with her impressive singing and the dramatic switch from her chic Devil Wears Prada role to the frantic ex-hippie mother of the bride. Seyfried is also charming as Sophie — her large eyes and smile seemed to light up her face as she sang and made her potentially disastrous efforts to have the perfect wedding seem adorable.
Unfortunately, the leading ladies were not enough to live up to the sterling reputation of Mamma Mia! Some audience members left Mamma Mia! wanting to see the Broadway version — not because of how great the movie was, but because they wanted to see how much better it could be. Perhaps Mamma Mia! is simply better suited for the stage.
It’s almost impossible to analyze a Broadway musical turned movie without pondering why Hollywood keeps making these films. Are they simply made in a last-ditch effort to boost Broadway ticket sales (such as with Rent, now scheduled to close Sept. 7)? Is it so people who can’t go to Broadway shows can still enjoy their magic? Anyone who has been to Broadway can tell you there is no way to capture its splendor on screen, and few shows survive once a movie version is out. In the end, it would seem we settle for movies that don’t quite hit the mark of Broadway excellence, Hollywood stays rich, and Broadway makes some short-term money. While Mamma Mia! is currently listed as an open-ended run on Broadway, one worries about how long it will remain that way.
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