Mamma Mia!

Inherently silly

By HARRY VAUGHN

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For all those of you out there who choose not to join the rest of the universe in the violent underworld of Gotham City this week, do not despair. Mamma Mia!, the world's most unapologetically flamboyant movie musical this side of Hello, Dolly!, is here to satisfy your needs. Unless, of course, you dislike ABBA, in which case, you're pretty much fucked.

However, if you are one of those die-hard Swedish pop fanatics, and you don't mind tapping your feet to a magnificently incomprehensible film adaptation that feels akin to a two-hour epileptic fit, purchase your tickets now. You won't be disappointed.

Set against a shimmering blue ocean and shot under a permanently cloudless summer sky, Mamma Mia! does one thing that its boxed-in stage roots could never do. It takes place on an actual Grecian island where beautifully tanned characters (or, more properly—caricatures) frolic around like the carefree gods of Mount Olympus. Director Phyllida Lloyd coats every frame with a glossy, colorful vibrancy that seems to acknowledge the inherent silliness of the film's premise without losing an ounce of its aesthetic pleasure.

The plot, in a jumbled attempt to meld with its ABBA lyrics, follows a young girl (Amanda Seyfried) who, upon reading her mother's diary, invites three middle-aged men (Pierce Brosnan, Colin Firth and Stellan Skårsgard) to her wedding in an attempt to discover which one is her actual father.

Of course, the film could care less about what actually happens to any of its characters. Even the actors, led by a particularly twitchy Meryl Streep, seem to see their numbers as just a brief respite between their studio-paid morning massage and afternoon cocktail.

A few songs, like "Does Your Mother Know" and "The Winner Takes It All," are finely staged, especially the latter, where Streep finally lets loose atop a massive cliff and delivers an unexpected emotional wallop that fits rather jarringly with the rest of the production.

But to pick apart a movie that isn't looking to please anyone outside of its core fan group would prove pointless, especially because Mamma Mia! appears to have such a fun time making a jolly fool of itself in the process.

MAMMA MIA!

RATED | PG-13

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