The Island Cinephile

Mamma Mia!: Catchy songs, thin plot

“Somebody up there has got it in for me. I bet it’s my mother.”

Donna

Mamma Mia! is a 2008 musical structured around an elementary plot and catchy songs with direction by Phyllida Lloyd and written by Catherine Johnson. Based on Johnson’s book from the 1999 musical with the same name, the film is organized around the popular and ever-so appealing songs of the Swedish pop group ABBA. The idealized plot is centered around Sophie Sheridan who is about to be married but she cannot complete the ceremony until she finds out the answer to a pressing question. She needs to know who her father is. So, she finds her mother’s diary and invites all three of three her mother’s ex-boyfriends to the Greek island of Kalokairi.

The cast is star-studded inclusive of Meryl Streep, Amanda Seyfried, Christine Baranski, Pierce Brosnan, Dominic Cooper, and Stellan Skårsgård. With such a popular line-up, one would expect a detailed plot to follow. However, the whole premise of the film seemed weak as if the writers could not decide what they wanted it to be. For example, was it about a girl who did not belong to the island? Was it about a girl who did not know what she wanted? Or was it about a girl searching for her father? Well, the storywriters say yes to all those suggestions and then some. Her friends seemed to be throwaways, who were rarely utilized, leaving the story to develop in an incomplete way. It inevitably seemed like all the ideas were mashed together. The dialogue was nothing of note and seemed a bit bland. The cinematography by Haris Zambarloukos brought a summery vibe with beautiful pastel colors. However, the direction and the abrupt cuts made the film appear more low effort. Its saving grace is truly the catchy soundtrack from Abba; it nearly fails as we listen to non-singers attempt to sing but ABBA proves to be resilient in the face of adversity. Despite all its noticeable flaws, Mamma Mia! seems to have had an exorbitant amount of commercial success and a memorable soundtrack.

Watch Trailer for Mamma Mia!.

---