| T O P I C R E V I E W |
| BaftaBaby |
Posted - 07/11/2008 : 12:29:08
Mama Mia!
It's a shame that the filmmakers didn't do more to take the film away from the flimsly premise of the juke-box musical that made millions around the world.
In case anyone doesn't know this is a film based on an internationally successful musical which drips Abba songs between a similar simple tale first told long ago in 1968 as Buona Sera, Mrs Campbell with Gina Lollobridgida in the title role.
In that film single mom Carla's been collecting maintenance payments from 3 ex-GIs who each believe himself to be dad to her daughter Gia. When the three meet for a reunion, the genes hit the fan.
Catherine Johnson was invited by director Phyllida Lloyd to re-write that premise for a stage musical featuring the songs of Abba. It was so successful a big budget film was inevitable.
I confess to never being an Abba fan, so all that dippy-do music crammed into one movie was not going to be a reason I dis/liked it.
Even at lunchtime the cinema was fairy packed, mostly with kids and teens - some of whom talked and giggled incessantly making me exercise GREAT control in not going over and punching them, but that's another story.
What I am a fan of is great performances and yes, Meryl Streep absolutely glows as Donna, the 50-something single mom of Sophie, her beautiful 20-year-old daughter. I'm being precise about ages because - just to get it out of the way - there are severe date and logic anomalies.
Given:
Donna met/fucked all three guys in the summer of love - the clue is in the photos of her and them all decked out in hippy gear. That was 1967. I know, I was there! So that makes it 40 years ago.
Let's say Donna was in her late teens when she got knocked-up, and, for various reasons all three blokes vanished from her life without any of them knowing of the pregnancy.
If Donna [which means lady] was say 17 or 18, that puts her age about right. But what about Sophie [which for reasons expanded below, please note is mighty close to Sappho - and let's not forget the whole thing takes place on a Greek Island]? Mathematics dictates the kid should be pushing 40.
But
She's 20. She tells us that in plain English. How old are you? she's asked. Twenty, she replies.
So the entire premise of assuming that her father might be her mother's liaison from 40 years ago is loopy. If, on the other hand, the film's "now" is supposed to be the late 1980s, why isn't that made clear - we just assume it's the present, mostly because of the quick early montage of the dads - Pierce Brosnan, an Englishman in NYC, Colin Firth, an Englishman in London, and Stellan Skarsg�rd, a Swede in Sweden. Or possibly Australia. It's hard to tell.
Also
Sophie finds, reads mom's diary - which is where she discovers the lovers, pix, names, and more ...
So
She promptly invites each of them to her forthcoming nups to dishy and versatile Dominic Cooper - for those of you who remember my prediction after The History Boys that he would soon be starring in a major motion picture.
But
Where exactly does she get their addresses? It's supposedly 40 or possibly 20 years later than the diary. People's lives change. They move on, around, and through. It's left unexplained.
Besides
If Donna had their current addresses, are you telling me that not once in the intervening years it didn't occur to her to get in touch with three guys who clearly meant so much to her that her life has been wrapped in secrets from her daughter, her pals, herself? Bollox!
OK - let's draw a veil over what was never going to be a substantive story, and get back to the film.
As I say - I'm no fan of the music. And I'm willing to suspend disbelief. So what's left is execution. Let's take the obvious first.
Singing & Dancing -
The choreography sucks. There is one moment of originality - but now I come to think about it, it's just a rip-off or a Dick van Dyke moment - where a chorus line of boys who arrive magically from the sea, do a duck walk in flippers along the pier.
Ex-model and soapstar Amanda Seyfried acquits herself very well. I can't recall any previous performance that featured her singing - I first clocked her in Nick Cassavetes' Alpha Dog. She's personable and fills the performance of her songs with exuberance and a certain degree of wholly appropriate innocence.
Both Julie Walters and Christine Baranski, as Donna's dearest friends and back-up singers in their supposedly amateur one-time girl group Donna and the Dynamos, are absolutely marvelous, as you'd expect from these timing-perfect commediennes. Teamed with Meryl Streep, they're as feisty a treble portrait of witty gritty pretty women as you'll ever see. And it's all there in the way they put over the songs.
Streep is pure magic. Given more screen time and more opportunity than the others for genuine emotion, she performs her songs in the way she performs dialogue - truth in every moment.
Acting
Streep's emotional range is tested far more than the film deserves. She presents a portrait of a woman who's made an art form of channeling her bruised emotions of past decades into a bit of dippy-hippy, but one who's brave enough to tackle any task from maintenance of Villa Donna, the hotel she bought with inherited money, to assuring her beloved daughter matures into a sensible, bright, secure young woman. When she needs to cope with the feelings she's buried so long for one of the three possible dads, her rendition of The Winner Takes It All proves that - in films anyway - acting is far more important than vocal perfection.
Of the rest, all three men show the solid skills they're not always called upon to provide. And the structure of the film doesn't allow for any hint of old mannerisms.
Structure/Direction
Apart from the above-mentioned timing anomalies, this is where the film echoes the cracks in the hotel's foundations. There's plenty of pace and Lloyd is clever enough to know when to cut or pan or hold a shot. But, for a story that's essentially about the reality of relationships, she never truly shows us the heart of the heart. She spends as much time spotlighting Baranski's treat-em-mean heartbreak of the younger black barman in a campy production number [beatifully performed, but that's not the point], as she does with Streep's sung confession of the love-pain of the decades.
Because of the structure -- essentially scenes contrived to fill in the gaps between numbers - emotional reality is trivialized. Too much is taken as given.
Clearly the focus is Mamma Mia herself, but we simply don't get enough of her as a character rather than as a point of reference. The whole relationship between Sophie and Sky [Sky? on stage wasn't his name Tom or something? Sky? WTF?] is reduced to a couple of numbers and two brief dialogue encounters that never get close to real feelings.
Well, I know there will be plenty of people for whom that will be enough, but I ain't one of them. For sure, this will be a summer hit.
Just a tiny word about the aura of sexual ambiguity that wraps the whole thing. We know that Abba is one of those groups which attracted a gay following. We know that director Lloyd has come out as a lesbian, and we hear rumors about writer Johnson and producer Craymer. We know that in the stage show it's clear - albeit only strongly hinted in a few shots in the film - that Colin Firth's character is gay. And the Sophie/Sappho thing is no accident.
I mention all this not for any other reason than that the film echoes the kind of camp exuberance of John Waters' Hairspray, with a similar level of the fear of expressing deep emotional connection except via song. Justified or not, these are usually assigned as gay characteristics.
Sadly, in a film like this with such thin story threads linking the songs, those missing emotional connections would have centred the film, made it believable and poignant instead of merely toe-tappy and unsatisfying.
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| 8 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First) |
| BaftaBaby |
Posted - 07/21/2008 : 09:02:24
Well now, there! You've had the last word. That should make you feel better 
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| Demisemicenturian |
Posted - 07/21/2008 : 01:23:38
quote:
Originally posted by BaftaBabe
Oh yes there is ... every one of those photos that Sophie pulls from the diary to show her mates has summer of love stamped all over it. Each of the blokes and Donna is clad in late-60s early 70s gear and sport flower power hair styles. The whole fashion scene changed in about '74/5 as it graded into punk. I think in one of the photos they were giving the V-fingered peace sign.
None of that is proof that it was the summer of love, as you obviously agree by also mentioning a date several years later. The characters are travelling the world and therefore it's perfectly plausible that they are the type of people who are still hippies a few years after the acme of hippiedom. They are presented like that as that lazily conjures up ideas of rebellion and free love for the audience.
quote:
So she'd have had to have been a teenaged mom - 20 tops.
I don't know what you mean by "So" here, as it doesn't follow from when the conception occurred. Donna's age is given or indicated at no stage.
quote:
It's highly doubtful that a remote part of Greece would have had one in 1999.
Highly doubtful on a touristy island of Greece (or a nearby touristy island that Sophie probably often visits)? I don't think so. Sky is travelling and so will have looked into different ways of keeping in touch. As soon as the Internet spread outside universities, gap-year students started using Internet cafes around the world.
quote:
I also do not believe Sophie would have been able to track down all three guys even if she could use the web. Maybe one, if he'd never moved from his childhood home.
Or his parents hadn't moved or he was still in the same profession that he was already planning to enter or Donna knew one unusual thing about him etc. etc. etc. It's really not that big a stretch, certainly not an issue to consider a problem.
quote:
Not sure what "preceding point" you mean.
The one before "except via song"; the one that I emboldened. |
| BaftaBaby |
Posted - 07/19/2008 : 00:17:40
quote:
Originally posted by Salopian
The chronology really bothered me too. It's not as bad as B.B. says (there's no reference to the summer of love and there's no reason to think that Donna was a teenage mother),
Oh yes there is ... every one of those photos that Sophie pulls from the diary to show her mates has summer of love stamped all over it. Each of the blokes and Donna is clad in late-60s early 70s gear and sport flower power hair styles. The whole fashion scene changed in about '74/5 as it graded into punk. I think in one of the photos they were giving the V-fingered peace sign. So she'd have had to have been a teenaged mom - 20 tops. The only way the age thing makes sense is if the 'now' of the film is in the 80s. The stage show opened in 1999, but I don't know when it was supposed to be set.
Let's work backwards. Say that 'now' is late 1990s and Sophie's 20. Which means she was born in late 1970s and Donna got pregnant the year before. It still makes no sense because of the fashions and hairstyles. If the photos didn't matter they wouldn't be onscreen. And neither would those shots of the guys leaving to come to the island. They are pure 2007/8. Even so - it would mean Donna's nowhere near close to 60, ditto for Walters' and Baranski's characters. Clearly none of them is believable as in their 40s, nor are the men - except possibly Firth. If the film had a decent story with real relationships all this chronological pedantry wouldn't mattter. What's sloppy is that given these glaring anachronisms the filmmakers merely chose to ignore the issue entirely, instead of trying to make it work.
quote:
Originally posted by Salopian
However, it's not a bad stretch to think she could have found their details from the Internet. Their names plus one clue each from the diary might be enough to start the hunt.
Berners-Lee launched the web in 1992, and it only began to trickle into public use in about 1995/6. The first internet cafe didn't launch until 1994 in London. It's highly doubtful that a remote part of Greece would have had one in 1999. Of course, they would have one in 2007/8. But Donna's Villa has no mod cons, so Sophie wouldn't have grown up as part of the web generation. In 1997 I was doing business outreach work for Bristol Council via The University of the West of England. Hardly anyone even knew what eMail was, and I even had to teach the so-called IT guy at the Bristol Business Link how to open an eMail attachment. That's just to put in perspective how familiar people were with the web/net around the late 1990s.
I also do not believe Sophie would have been able to track down all three guys even if she could use the web. Maybe one, if he'd never moved from his childhood home. Donna's not a rich woman and Sophie wouldn't have the money for verification international phonecalls or hours at a net cafe. None of that side of things makes any sense whatsoever.
quote:
Originally posted by Salopian
quote:
Originally posted by BaftaBabe
the fear of expressing deep emotional connection except via song. Justified or not, these are usually assigned as gay characteristics.
The camp music cliche is a stereotype that exists, but I don't think you've got good grounds for your preceding point.
Not sure what "preceding point" you mean. I only mentioned the gay thing to lead into my main gripe with the film, namely:
quote:
Sadly, in a film like this with such thin story threads linking the songs, those missing emotional connections would have centred the film, made it believable and poignant instead of merely toe-tappy and unsatisfying.
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| Demisemicenturian |
Posted - 07/18/2008 : 23:26:35
The chronology really bothered me too. It's not as bad as B.B. says (there's no reference to the summer of love and there's no reason to think that Donna was a teenage mother), but it still doesn't add up. It would have just about worked when the stage musical was written, with Sophie being conceived in the 1970s when Donna was in her twenties. Another thing is that Sam refers to his sons, who must be younger than Sophie, as being grown up, so that is a tight fit too.
I agree about the name Sky. I just kept thinking "Is this supposed to be a reference to Sky Masterson?"
However, it's not a bad stretch to think she could have found their details from the Internet. Their names plus one clue each from the diary might be enough to start the hunt.
quote:
Originally posted by BaftaBabe
the fear of expressing deep emotional connection except via song. Justified or not, these are usually assigned as gay characteristics.
The camp music cliche is a stereotype that exists, but I don't think you've got good grounds for your preceding point.
I found it rather shameful that Firth's character only hugs his new beau whereas all the other characters are merrily kissing each other. I also though that (with a change of nationality) he could have been called Fernando and thus they could've fitted my favourite ABBA song in.
I'm not a particular ABBA fan, but all in all I found it fun and heart-warming. There's no doubt that it will be a big summer hit; it's not as though many people will rock up at the cinema and then be unsure between this and The Dark Knight. It had the biggest opening weekend of any musical in history. |
| randall |
Posted - 07/16/2008 : 14:03:35
I saw the juke-box musical a few months after it opened on Broadway, with my wife and mother-in-law. I'm not a particular ABBA fan, nor are they. But you could look out over the audience [we were in the balc] and watch the heads bang! We were as drawn inside the music toward the end as when we'd earlier seen the fire-breathing Buddy Holly bio-musical, which is mucho.
Plus, I have to say [I think we've been warned about spoilers] that when the cast finally gave up the charade and strapped on their ABBA 70s disco costumes at the end, and the lighting designer turned every lamp up full as fucking possible, the place went nuts!
But one thing: it's not a "juke-box musical." The "flimsy premise" may be plausibly re-described as an attempt to integrate ABBA tunes into a disinterested story at dramatically appropriate intervals. [Baffy's already name-checked a source film.] Success or failure, what they're trying to do is to concoct a Broadway musical story which has never heard of ABBA, using ABBA songs. Then, at the finale, they abandon all pretense.
The few underwhelming clips I've seen of this one lead me to believe that by taking it outside, to panoramic Greece, for the first time in cinema history the producers have actually closed up a musical! We'll see. The live show earns every penny you spent. Let's see if the flick does as well.
EDIT: And, Baffy: "summer hit"? It opens in the US this Friday against, of all franchises, Batman. We'll see, won't we? As they say in pro wrestling, let's get ready to RUMBLE! |
| Whippersnapper. |
Posted - 07/12/2008 : 12:10:41
And women never lie about their age, right?
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| ChocolateLady |
Posted - 07/12/2008 : 10:51:59
Although I haven't seen it (not being an ABBA fan myself), I understand that the stage show is quite nice. But then, on stage, one doesn't actually try that hard to get into the relm of believability. There we can be in the 1980s or 20 years later, and no one will pay all that much attention. But on film, you see things close up and confidential, so that 20 year discrepency sounds really bad.
I went to see Billy Joel's "Movin' Out" and really enjoyed it. It uses the same basic idea as this - taking a collection of songs and arranging them to make them into a story. And it works very well, since Joel's songs do have lots of story-telling qualities to them. But even so, I totally doubt it would translate to the big screen.
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| silly |
Posted - 07/11/2008 : 17:03:54
My wife wants to see this, so we probably shall. I've never seen the stage show, and can only tolerate Abba in small doses.
Should be kinda fun, but it's certainly no "Tropic Thunder." 
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